Deputies find huge pot grow in Kittitas County
ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Sheriff's deputies seized more than 13,500 marijuana plants on Tuesday after discovering a large grow operation in the Manastash Canyon west of Ellensburg.
In a news release, Kittitas County Sheriff Gene Dana said the plants were part of the largest single grow in the county.
The seizure "prevented over ten million dollars worth of illegal marijuana from reaching the streets," he said.
The operation to remove the plants from the Department of Natural Resource land involved officers from several local and federal law enforcement agencies.
Deputies found food, clothing and camping gear at the site, but no arrests have been made.
A helicopter was used to bring officers to the scene and help haul growing equipment and trash out of the area.
In a news release, Kittitas County Sheriff Gene Dana said the plants were part of the largest single grow in the county.
The seizure "prevented over ten million dollars worth of illegal marijuana from reaching the streets," he said.
The operation to remove the plants from the Department of Natural Resource land involved officers from several local and federal law enforcement agencies.
Deputies found food, clothing and camping gear at the site, but no arrests have been made.
A helicopter was used to bring officers to the scene and help haul growing equipment and trash out of the area.
Wow! So Happy To See These Plants...i knew by having these, a lot of us, patients with serious illnesses will have a good hope that they can still live life at its best...Currently i am ordering mine from http://maryjanesgarden.com/..
Keep Growing marijuana plants for all the people especially for us - with serious illnesses. And I hope marijuana Legalization will be proclaimed soon.
Â
I just skimmed all the comments because I didn't have time to read in detail, but I am amazed that I see no mention of the recent scientific study which gave evidence that smoking pot before the age of 18 permanently lowers the I.Q. of the younger than 18 smoker of pot. Now this may not stop anyone bent on self destruction from smoking pot because studies as long ago as 1985 showed that smoking one joint effectively lowers the I.Q. by 30 points by interfering with electrical activity in the left brain hemisphere.  Pot does NOT have the same chemistry or medical effects as alcohol. Alcohol does not permanently lower the I. Q. of young drinkers. Those who say that pot should be legalized because alcohol is legal are comparing apples and oranges or cyanide and ginger ale. I commend the Kittitas County Sheriff's Dept. for doing their job so well.
 @Mary Can you give evidence of this study from 1985? Perhaps a link or someway to show your statement has validity.Â
 @Mary while that study did show pot lowers IQ you fail to realize that pot has many other medical benefits, much more then alcohol.  For on it actually stops cancerous cells from growing and reduces the size and effect of cancer cells http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17952650.  Also active canniboids in pot are also found in mothers breast milk  http://www.naturalnews.com/036526_cannabinoids_breast_milk_THC.html. Â
Not to mention another product of prohibition of marijuana is the fact that hemp (which has less then .05% thc in it) is illegal.  You may not know but hemp has maybe the greatest benefits of any plant found on earth, the fibers can be used to make oil, clothes, building materials, and the seed of the plant is one of the most nutritious things you can consume http://www.hemp-guide.com/benefits-of-hemp.html.  Marijuana should be legalized more so then alcohol for many other reasons such as, marijuana has never killed some one, you have to smoke over 20,000 lbs of marijuana to overdose and they arent even sure if that is true because you physically cant smoke that much.  Also cancer patients should be given marijuana over opiate pain killers because marijuana is not physically addictive, also it stops nausea and help increases the appetite for the those going through kemo.  Educate yourself on the benefits of marijuana before makingÂ
 HEmp is illegal to grow commercially here, not illegal completely.  [6]Â
 @Mary So that explains the burnouts that hang around 4th & Pine across from Westlake Mall all day.
 @I Like Meat  @Mary You're right. The burnouts are all potheads. So persuasive.
" Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot"
Â
This Message is Approved by The Washington Restaurant Association
Â
Recycled Comment
What a waste of police time.
Problem is that although weed is seemingly harmless and in fact medicianl for some, the one that are growing and selling it end up using their profits to acquire other illegal items such as illegal firearms, and other drugs that arent as recreational.
 @sgdsox typos forgiven, ignorance is not
Please excuse the typos.
@sgdsox KOMO, could we get some access to edit/spell check?
Â
I'm the king of typos!
 @snoopy84  @sgdsox My computer automatically does spell check underlining misspelled words in red. Of course, that doesn't help when a word is misused like their when talking about over there. One of my pet peeves. I use Foxfire as my browser and it has spell check as an option under tools, options, advanced, general tab. I'm sure Windows Explorer has a similar function.
 @sgdsox You're excused.
They got it out just in time for hunting season. I sure wouldn't want to stumble upon that and the growers alone in the woods.Â
Looks like the price of weed just went up for Central Wa. students... that sucks.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I bet they burned it all....LOLÂ
 @Mr. H Yeah, one bowl at a time!
This comment has been deleted
@2nd Baseman Sheeple? your the sheeple. This is where our tax dollars are going. As quik as they take this one down 10 are ready to replace it. I understand it is illegal, the pointis to make it legal so LE can put thier efforts elsewhere. It is the illegal part that makes it dangerous.
You need to study the prohibition era. What a waste of life and money.
I wonder why they didn't drop off a couple of officers to camp out and catch the growers when they came back to harvest.Â
This comment has been deleted
 @2nd Baseman You really need to read your history on prohibition ....chances are your grand parents used to smoke it before the government banned it in the 70's. I know mine did. Its a harmless plant. ALSO if you learn to READ they have not made any arrest yet so you can't really call it a bust. More like they stumbled on to it. This war on drugs is a failed war! When we legalize it the crime factor with die off quickly. Look at what happened with Alcohol. 2nd Baseman you need to start thinking for your self and stop spewing out lies that the government has force-fed you since birth.Â
a lot of tax could be collected on ten million dollars! Oh well.
where would the tax dollars go? To education? I doubt it..
 @agatha Maybe to the deficit. Would be nice to start paying down Gregoire's debt.
 @legalweed250  @My_Thoughts That's a projected deficit which the legislature is required to remedy before the end of the biennium. This state cannot end a fiscal biennium in the red. Therefore not a real deficit.
 @My_Thoughts http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711
Â
 @My_Thoughts Â
Â
READ this My_thoughts... you'll see that wa state is 641 million in the hole!
 @marvin  @agatha And what deficit would that be?  If you would please site your sources that show that the Washington state budget expenditures or liabilities exceed income or assets.
There'll be a lot less happier people in the general population instead! Go find some Super Meth Labs instead ya ninnies. Besides, I see a lot of shake and leaves here, sickly yellow not thick with crystallized buds. Looks like ditchweed and it would not bring in 1mil let alone 10.
There is no way that those plants total $10 million. If those plants were grown indoors, then that's a different story. Most plants grown outdoors are weaker and don't receive the nurturing and close observation that indoor plants do. Some of those plants don't look healthy at all.
Â
The seizure "prevented over ten million dollars worth of illegal marijuana from reaching the streets," Can you imagine how much we would benefit from that if that was legal?
 @Zoso Well     I     would     probably     spend     more     time    cleaning     the     Cheeto's    crumbs     off     my     keyboard.   :-) Â
 @My_Thoughts  @Zoso Oh here's another clever one. [eye roll]
 @Sovereign  @Zoso I reserve my right to my own idiocy.  :-p
okay,
So they effectively stopped medicine from reaching the Co-Ops...(please note the sarcastic tone of the following) Woo Hoo, good for you.... you are keeping medicine from reaching those who are ill and in pain. You deserve a beer and a pat on the head. Aren't you the most special people in the world!
 @Tina Marie Comroe Yes they are, faithfully doing the job we hired them to do.  Enforcing the laws we and our elected representatives put on the books.
 @My_Thoughts  @Tina Marie Comroe I'm not so sure our elected representatives made MJ a class one narcotic, I believe that was just President Nixon that had it moved to that high level. IMO it was at the behest of the major drug manufacturers because MJ would cut into their profits on their expensive pain killers and anti nausea medications.
 @My_Thoughts  Prohibition doesn't work. Get through your thick skull......
That's 10 million dollars that you could  be taxing and applying to education or other financially deprived government programs that actually help people! Good job Sheriff's dept. NOT!!!!
 @legalweed250 Yes it is a GOOD job by the Sheriff's department.  Until such time we change the laws that we and the representatives we elected enacted, it IS illegal to grow marijuana and the Sheriffs did the job we hired and expect them to do.  Enforcing the laws that we put on the books.
Whether is should be illegal and whether this eradication operation was money well spent is not within the Sheriff's offices purview to decide nor should it be.Â
 @My_Thoughts This is a plant that is hurting no one....marijuana is technically illegal in Canada however the cops there barely even bother with those that consume it. The Canadian police is ALSO hired to uphold the law yet they use their brains and pursue other meaningful task.  I can see that you have bought into the propaganda that its the "LAW SO ITS RIGHT TO FOLLOW IT" Not every law is good for us and if those that enforce the law and use their brains once in a while then they can pursue the real crimes that are happening out there as I type this.Â
 @My_Thoughts SO you would like to have mindless drones carrying out every letter of the law? Look back at what you have done that is against the law.......going 5mph over the speed limit? seems harmless right??? but in reality it can kill. Yet Officers everywhere let you get away with it because they say it can't hurt anyone. BUT ITS THE LAW so you should go to jail for every time you have broken the law. TALK ABOUT A SLIPPERY SLOPE.
 @My_Thoughts Has anyone died directly at the result from marijuana consumption? No! DV's and Rape cases have moralities reported as a direct result of them happening. I'm saying that WE NEED TO LEGALIZE! in the mean time the officers should put those resources use to seize the grow op and direct them else where where it is really needed! Â
 @legalweed250 It's a VERY slippery slope to let law enforcement officers decide which laws to enforce and when.  It's not a great leap to seeing them deciding which domestic violence or rape cases they think are worth their time and effort.
 @legalweed250 Just think of all the jobs lost at KrispyKream!
 @Rotagilla  @legalweed250 LOLZ at the Krispy kreme comment!
Oh the horror
Until such time as this country realizes the revenue and tax potential of marijuana, it's still illegal. After they realize it and make it the next domestic commodity, they will have to deal w/ the thugs and gangs who control the growth and trade. Until then, I'm glad they are cleaning up this crap...especially in our forests and trails. You DON'T want to be on the receiving end of accidentally walking into one of these grow operations!
@takncarabizniz yep. And if it was legal, controlled, and taxed, the demand for illegal operations like this would go away, and you wouldnt have to worry about accidentally walking into one of these grow operations