(U) Distribution - Northern California HIDTA Drug Market Analysis 2010 (UNCLASSIFIED)

The Northern California HIDTA region is a national- and regional-level distribution center for methamphetamine and marijuana produced in the region as well as marijuana, ice methamphetamine, and cocaine smuggled from Mexico into the United States. Mexican DTOs are the primary wholesale distributors of these drugs, typically using stash sites at private residences, warehouses, and storage facilities in cities and towns throughout the region. Mexican DTOs and criminal groups also use the area as a base of operations for illicit drug distribution to markets in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, Hawaii, Canada, and the East Coast. Street gangs, prison gangs, and OMGs operating in the HIDTA region distribute illicit drugs to their counterparts in cities throughout the country to capitalize on the higher profits that can be made in those cities. Caucasian criminal groups and independent dealers as well as Asian DTOs distribute high-potency marijuana produced in northern California to other areas of the country.

Retail-level drug distribution in the HIDTA region is conducted principally by gangs and independent dealers. In midsize and large metropolitan areas, street and prison gangs dominate retail drug distribution at open-air markets (located on streets and in parking lots) and in clubs and bars. Drug sales in smaller towns and rural areas are usually conducted at prearranged locations, typically between an independent dealer and known or referred customers.

Law enforcement authorities in the Northern California HIDTA region report that the state medical marijuana law, California Proposition 215,f which allows the cultivation, distribution, and use of marijuana, has been exploited by seemingly legitimate medical marijuana growers and medical dispensaries that deliberately exceed the prescribed limits for the amount of processed marijuana that may be possessed or the number of plants that may be under cultivation at any one time. Officials from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies report that investigations of individuals growing more than the approved amount in their states are often difficult because of differing views among state, county, and local officials with regard to medical marijuana laws. For example, in January 2010, the Supreme Court of California ruled in the case People v. Patrick K. Kelly that the quantity guideline amounts in Senate Bill 420g were unconstitutional because the California State Legislature was powerless to act on its own to amend an initiative statute, specifically Proposition 215. It is too early to estimate the impact of this legislation on illicit cannabis cultivation and marijuana abuse.

Drug-Related Crime

Methamphetamine trafficking and abuse have a nexus to much of the crime in the Northern California HIDTA region. The majority of state and local law enforcement officials responding to the NDTS 2010 report that methamphetamine is the drug that most contributes to violent crime and property crime in their jurisdictions. (See Table 4.) Law enforcement officials also report that most incidents of assault, burglary, domestic violence, and homicide that take place in the region are related to methamphetamine distribution and abuse. Additionally, law enforcement reporting indicates that methamphetamine abusers commit a considerable amount of property crime in the area, including identity theft, to acquire money with which to purchase methamphetamine and other illicit drugs.

Table 4. Northern California HIDTA Law Enforcement Responses to the National Drug Threat Survey 2010

Drug	Greatest Drug Threat	Most Contributes to Violent Crime	Most Contributes to Property Crime
Ice methamphetamine	25	22	27
Powder methamphetamine	4	7	8
Marijuana	1	7	1
Crack cocaine	5	5	2
Powder cocaine	1	0	0
Heroin	0	0	1
CPDs	5	0	2

Source: National Drug Threat Survey 2010.
Note: Total number of respondents: 41.

Marijuana-related violence is escalating in the HIDTA region, primarily on public lands, where the number of violent crimes associated with outdoor cultivation sites is increasing. The rising prevalence of outdoor grow sites on accessible public lands has resulted in armed confrontations between site caretakers and various hikers, hunters, and campers who inadvertently encounter them. According to law enforcement officials, an increasing number of individuals are arming themselves to protect cannabis crops because of the high value of these crops, competition with other outdoor growers, and aggressive eradication efforts by law enforcement. Many crop tenders protect marijuana grow sites from intrusion by any means, including booby traps. As such, cannabis cultivation operations are a threat to the safety of law enforcement officers. Law enforcement personnel in the region report increases in the number of weapons seized during investigations and violent confrontations with cultivators who aggressively protect their operations. DCE/SP data show that the number of weapons seized at both outdoor and indoor grow sites in California increased 68 percent from 2004 (749) to 2009 (1,256).

Footnotes

f. California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Health and Safety Code § 11362.5.
g. Senate Bill 420, Article 2.5, Chapter 6, Division 10, Health and Safety Code § 11362.7.