Attorney General Lockyer Issues Statement on Federal Threat to Cut State's Share of Anti-Drug Funds

May 21, 2003
03-062
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(916) 324-5500

(SACRAMENTO) - Attorney General Bill Lockyer today issued the following statement regarding the Bush Administration's proposal to cut federal anti-drug money from California and seven other states that have enacted medical marijuana laws:

"Cutting federal funds desperately needed in our fight against major drug operations is alarming. Cutting those funds simply because Californians have shown compassion by allowing physicians to recommend medical marijuana treatment for critically ill and dying patients is shortsighted, retaliatory and dangerous.

"Since I took office as Attorney General in 1999, we have set new records in breaking up large drug operations. From 1999 to 2002, we dismantled more than 6,000 clandestine methamphetamine labs that feed addictions, endanger children and harm the environment. Our CAMP program has continued to break records every year in the amount of marijuana seized. Since 1999, we have seized more than 1.25 million illegal marijuana plants worth more than $4 billion.

"Our success is due in large part because of the cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies involved in drug task forces. We currently receive $761,384 in federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) funds. Those monies provided essential support to anti-drug programs in the Central Valley, and Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties.

"I continue to be dismayed at the heavy-handed tactics of the Bush Administration, which jeopardize these professional relationships. It is imperative that we continue to work together in pooling our limited resources for the protection of California against organized drug traffickers and the harm they cause to our children and our environment."