Wednesday, December 26, 2001

sfgate.com

SILICON VALLEY conjures up images of chips and computers. Yet it turns out that Santa Clara Valley has now eclipsed the North Coast's "Emerald Triangle" in its crop of locally grown marijuana.

Every fall, the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting launches a taxpayer-supported search-and-seizure raid of pot farms. This year, defying its national image as a community of 24/7 nerds, Silicon Valley placed second, right behind Tehama County.

According to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, about 70 percent of the state's pot fields had some apparent ties to Mexican drug cartels. "We're not talking about little backyards with old hippies growing a few plants," Lockyer said, defending the state's expensive raids. State officials also claim, moreover, that their efforts have proved effective. With pride, Lockyer cites the new practice of using helicopters to drop drug agents into suspected pot farms.

But if CAMP's raids are so effective, one wonders why the amount of seized pot never seems to decrease. It's certainly a puzzle worth pondering -- without, of course, the distorted thinking produced by mind-altering marijuana.