[Sativa]

Wine grapes and timber were the top two most valuable cash crops harvested in Mendocino County last year, at least on paper. But county supervisors suspect another locally grown commodity—marijuana—is the true title holder.

That's why two lawmakers on Tuesday proposed overturning a 1980 resolution that removed pot from a report on agriculture activity the Board of Supervisors receives each year. They also asked the county's agriculture commissioner to try to assign a monetary value to Mendocino's marijuana crop.

"I think the public has the right to know," said Supervisor John Pinches, remarking that a local government consultant estimated that illegal pot accounts for two-thirds of the money coming into the county.

Agriculture Commissioner Dave Bengston said marijuana last was listed in the annual crop survey covering the 1978-79 growing season. County supervisors passed the resolution to remove it after the state agriculture department said that including pot in the crop report was inappropriate, according to Bengston.

"That's just an ostrich with its head in the sand," said Supervisor Jim Wattenburger.

Bengston said the information in the 1979 survey came mostly from law enforcement agencies. So far this year, the state and local officers have reported seizing 243,505 illegal marijuana plants in Mendocino County, at least 50,000 more than in all of 2006.



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Source: San Jose Mercury News
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Copyright: 2007 San Jose Mercury News
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