Legal pot growers frustrated by illegal operations in Oregon

A licensed cannabis grower, a vineyard owner and a sheriff were among witnesses who testified this week before a committee of the Oregon Legislature, in an effort to seek help in stemming the proliferation of illegal grow sites in southern Oregon

SALEM, Ore. -- Amanda Metzler, a licensed cannabis grower, has beefed up security around her property and no longer dares to go out alone after dark because of illegal marijuana farms in her region.

Elin Miller, a vineyard owner, said the illegal sites have lured away so many field workers that grape growers and wineries are suffering labor shortages, particularly at harvest time.

Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler says the crime rate, associated with the thousands of illegal marijuana farms that have sprung up this year in southern Oregon, has gone through the roof.

“We’ve had stabbings, robberies, thefts, burglaries, homicides, sex crimes, motor vehicle accidents, DUIs, all related to the influx of the marijuana-cannabis industry in our in our valley,” Sickler said. “It is certainly an issue we deal with on a daily basis here.”