Humboldt County launches campaign against illegal indoor cannabis grows

By Will Houston, The Cannifornian

The Humboldt County Deputy Sheriff’s Organization launched a public outreach and advertising campaign this week against illegal indoor cannabis grows and is calling on the public to weigh in on potential solutions.

The union’s president, local Deputy Jamie Barney said one option they have been advocating for is for the county to implement an excessive energy use tax similar to what Arcata approved in 2012.

“Why can’t the county do that also?” Barney said. “… We have talked about that in the past. It never seemed to go anywhere. We’re also asking the community if they have other ideas.”

Arcata currently has a 45 percent tax on households that use more than 600 percent of the energy baseline — the energy used to power three average homes. The tax was designed to hit the wallets of illegal indoor cannabis grow operators. Arcata officials told the Times-Standard in January 2014 that the tax appeared to have done its job, reducing the number of homes with excessive…