While some of Central Oregon's population is for some reason celebrating today (with it being April 20 and all), our area's drug enforcement officials are taking a different tact for this year's de facto pot holiday.
The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement released a statement late yesterday -- 4/20 Eve, as it's known to some -- asking the regions' residents to keep a vigilant eye out for marijuana grow operations on public lands, which the multi-agency group says has been a problem in recent years.
"The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team believes that the drug trafficking organizations involved in the illegal growing of outdoor marijuana will start their plantations early this spring," said the statement.
In the past, the agency has found evidence of trafficking cartels using our nearby public lands to grow pot.
CODE is asking people to be aware of "large amounts of plastic irrigation pipe, large quantities of fertilizer in bags, propane tanks and anything else that looks out of place in the outdoors" when they head out onto public lands. They don't, however, want you to go all Johnny Justice on them while trying to gather information and put yourself in danger. It's always important to stay safe when pot farm hunting.
