How Cartels Are Taking Over California's Rural Counties | Jeremiah LaRue

You have two deputies dealing with 2,000 girls. There's 4,000 to 8,000 people that are in this business. We use helicopters, we use drones, we drive by them. It's so blatant, they're not even hidden. The laws are so pathetic that it doesn't deter anybody. If you know nothing's gonna happen to you, or it's a small fine, you're gonna push the envelope, guaranteed. And that's what we're seeing. Did you ever think it would become like this? It's heartbreaking, it really is. We're seeing people get hurt and killed in the community. The laws are kind of a joke. My guest today is Jeremiah Larue, Siskiyou County Sheriff. Our last discussion about illegal marijuana growth in his county received millions of views and attention from the state government. Since then, the state has passed Senate Bill 756, authored by Senator John Laird, to have state and local water boards investigate these illegal growths. Today, Jeremiah's here to give us an update on what's going on in his county. The issue is, who is responsible for the illegal growths? The state has kind of gotten themselves in a place where it's gotten so out of hand that if they start to address the real issue, it's gonna be egg on their face. We have some interesting updates for you from California Insider. We have developed our website, for which we're covering a lot of California news. On top of having all of our episodes there, we're gonna have a lot of California news. Make sure to check it out. I'm Siamak Khorami, and welcome to California Insider. Jeremiah, it's great to have you back on. Welcome back. Thank you for having me. You know, you came on the show and you told us about your county and the issue you guys are facing with illegal growers. We wanna get an update on what happened after that show, but can you tell us briefly what's going on in your county with illegal marijuana growers? Yeah, I mean, it's still present. It has gotten better, which is positive. It's still unprecedented, the amount of illegal activity that we are seeing, but I wanna thank you and all your help with the show because it was very popular, and I got phone calls from all over the United States that were very supportive of what you've done and also what I'm doing. It's our viewers, actually. We wanna thank them for coming forward and helping and caring. Well, they're amazing, and I appreciate that. And it's the Californians and people that care about California across the globe. So tell us, what's happened in your county? What's the deal with the illegal growers in general? Yeah, where to begin, right? So, I mean, we essentially have unprecedented number. You know, we have four to 8,000 people that are there illegally cultivating. And as I've mentioned before, the laws are kind of a joke. And so people are not deterred from committing illegal crimes there. And so it's a free-for-all. And the state legislature has sort of enabled that. And unfortunately, we don't have too many tools to combat it, so we try to be creative on a local level. And it has been somewhat positive that we've seen some decrease in activity. But, you know, we're seeing all kinds of things. We have animal cruelty. We have environmental crimes. We have water crimes. Of course, we've had all kinds of violent crime. And so imagine trying to deal with that at a local level with a very small county. And so we're outnumbered, in a sense. And so we reached out to the state. And, you know, I will say, and give them, you know, some positive accolades, they've actually helped out a little bit. And we need to see more, though, because, again, we are overwhelmed. Can you tell us some specific examples of what's going on in there when you were saying you're overwhelmed? Is the crime out of control? What does it look like on the ground for people? Yeah, so in Siskiyou County, so picture, we have about 2,000 illegal grows. And when I say that, they're parcels. And so some of them are really small and some of them are massive, you know, hundreds of acres. And so people cultivate year round. So we go and serve search warrants. We eradicate the problem, which is the illegal marijuana, and then it's replanted the next day. So it's a kind of a vicious cycle because we can never get ahead of it because people are so determined to grow illegally that they don't stop because there's too much profit. So you catch them, you go there today, you catch them, they stop, and then they come back. That's right. The next day. So people that, there's land that people own, and they might go online and ask for people to, you know, come work at their grow. And so people will come in and they're promised that they get paid $100 a day or $500 a day. And when they show up, they don't have any supplies, they have nothing. So they are told to go purchase everything to cultivate and the original owners don't ever pay them. And, you know, we've reported that to the state because it's essentially labor trafficking and these people get taken advantage of. So then we show up to serve search warrants. And oftentimes we run into these people that are just working. And a lot of times the people that are behind the scenes, if you will, are never caught. Is it dangerous to be at this grow site or is it just like a farm? Some people might say this is just like a farm, right? Is it? Yeah, it's a hundred percent different than a legit farm for a couple of reasons. One, I've never seen anybody get murdered over alfalfa as an example. Marijuana, there's constant violent crime. And we are constantly taking fully automatic rifles, handguns, you name it, from these grows. A lot of them are un-serialized and no one should possess them. And we find them routinely at illegal grows. We don't find that in legit agriculture. And why do they have the guns? Why are there murders there? Yeah, to protect themselves. There's a reality that people show up to steal marijuana. And, you know, there's turf wars that kind of happen. People that are neighbors will get into arguments. They will shoot at each other. It's very violent. And, you know, we still have, I think, almost five unsolved homicides just from the grows in our county. And most of them are drug deals gone bad. So people will say that it's just a plant, it's legal, but that isn't even the issue. It's all the other things that go with it. And if people are willing to kill over something or die over it, I mean, it doesn't really matter what the product is. What about the community? So you said you have 2,000 grows between 4,000 people to 8,000 people that are in it. What about the rest of the community? Is this in the middle of the community, like other people are living around these, or is it just somewhere secluded? Yeah, so if you look at our county, we kind of have concentrated areas where there's a lot of illegal grows. And we have about three or four where there's hundreds and hundreds of grows. And so it's not everywhere. So we try to look at the concentrated areas and deal with it. You know, we respond to complaints online. We respond to phone calls. And, you know, there's kind of like we'll say in the concentration of it, you know, there's a lot more crime in those areas. So of course we're gonna be there because we have to respond to calls. And you know those areas, right? Right. And, but you have your team, how big is your team dealing with this now? Yeah, so right now we have two people. Nothing has changed. You still have two people. We still have two people, yeah. Yeah, I mean, not just me, but, you know, law enforcement's facing a very big challenge in hiring people right now. And so our numbers are down statewide. You could see other departments, the same issue. So we're trying to combat this huge problem with very low staffing. And, you know, a lot of it comes down to money. You know, a lot of these counties, including mine, just don't have the resources and the money to combat such a large problem. And there really isn't anything that the state offers to assist, which is very frustrating. And the main reason that it's frustrating is because the state is the one that came up with this. You know, we talked about it before, Proposition 64. And so that was sort of thrown at us. Which Californians did, we all voted for it. We did. As a whole, Californians voted for it, right? Right, and I think people were a little ill-informed on what that would look like as it played out. And now, do you know where these places are and you still cannot send the resources to take care of them, right? Do you know kind of like these areas, they have the grows, or you guys don't know where they are? Yeah, we know where all the grows are. I mean, we fly over them all the time. We use helicopters, we use drones, we drive by them. It's so blatant, they're not even hidden. And it's just a sheer numbers game. You know, we can only do so much. And like I said, they just replant the next day. And the laws are so pathetic that it doesn't deter anybody. People might pay fines, but they'll just get back to work. I think it's gonna take actual consequences that people can see, they're tangible, that will get people to quit growing illegally. Why would you give your money to people who hate you? That's the question Larry Elder asked when he was looking for a bank. He saw that too many banks are canceling hardworking, law-abiding Americans, simply because they don't like what they do or what they stand for. So Larry got together with John Rich, Dr. Ben Carson, and some really smart bankers and technology experts and started their own bank, Old Glory Bank. It's built on one simple, strong, irrefutable principle, the United States Constitution, that brilliant document that forged this great nation out of freedom and liberty. 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The way in which the marijuana in my county, I know a lot of other places, is being grown is through the use of illegal pesticides. And that in and of itself should be a great concern for everybody. Because pesticides, they're regulated. But if someone is completely avoiding that, then who knows what's on the plant? Who knows what's getting into the ground, into the groundwater? And then you have animals that come by that might eat something that's contaminated, or they might get it in their paws. We've had countless dogs that we've found deceased that we've heard some reports that they've been poisoned. And so there's no wildlife. It's almost barren in some of these areas. And so that should alarm everyone. And we see little interest from the state, but also little interest in some of these groups that supposedly are all about animals and taking care of the environment. And so that's unfortunate that we don't see people sort of in action showing support. And in your community, is it mainly, is it fair to say cartels are coming? Who are the people that are doing these grows? Yeah, we talked about it a little bit last time. So people often use cartels interchangeable with just organized crime. And so for us, I like to refer to it as organized crime. And the reason being, I mean, we have groups of people that they'll wait on the road. They have people that are watching to see when we come by and they radio it in or they call it in and say, the cops are coming. I mean, that's organization, right? You got road guards that they have out there. They have a very intricate network of folks that are watching. They're the eyes on the ground. And so I am not sure exactly the hierarchy because it's very confusing who might be responsible and at what level. Because again, we encounter growers, but a lot of them are not owners of the property. Some don't even live around here and whatnot. So it's hard to say exactly, but we do know that money is going back East. We know that in some instances, it's actually going back to China. And so who knows really how deep the network is. And that's concerning for us because oftentimes we don't even know who we're dealing with. Jeremiah, do you feel concern or your deputies, the two deputies you have at your department when you're going through these groves, do you have any concerns for your own safety? Because it seems like a dangerous area to be in. We do on two fronts. One is just the possibility of violence because of what we've talked about, right? People are willing to die for marijuana for some reason. And the other part is just the pesticides that we're encountering. Not that long ago, we had some things tested. The National Guard actually assisted with some of that. And what it revealed is there's all kinds of compounds that are not supposed to be there. And so the pesticides are coming from China. They're unregulated. And so those are substances that should not be, we shouldn't be seeing them. So what's in them, that's another issue. And so my deputies are having to go and eradicate and they have to do the best they can to not get contaminated, but it's almost impossible to not get something on you or the potential is there. And so they have to be very cautious, but I'm concerned as well as they are about what is the long-term effect of that? So again, we have this huge problem that we have to deal with, but we're encountering things that we shouldn't because of these banned pesticides that are everywhere. And so we need to keep our folks safe and that's expensive, but it's worth it. And so I know they have concerns that are they gonna wind up with cancer in 10 or 20 years because they're trying to do the best that they can to protect the environment, protect the people in the community and go after illegal crime. And unfortunately where it's at right now is folks have the illegal growers are just enabled to continue doing this. Now, since we talked, has there been any development? I know there's a lot that has passed, but has there been any development? Yeah, so we've actually had some positive things happen that I've seen a couple of bills that currently went through this last legislative cycle are actually gonna help with some of the issues dealing with the water. Actually, my representative assembly person, Megan Dally was helpful in getting a bill through which actually will help with some of the environmental damage that's going towards or it's caused in the water. So for instance, there's rivers and streams that people often will take water out of. Well, like I mentioned with the pesticides, eventually that's getting into the groundwater. It's gonna get into streams. I mean, the potential is there and that's super concerning. So with help from her as well as others, that bill hopefully will allow us to take a little more action against people that we catch that there's a clear source of water and there's some link between contamination and that water source. Is there any other help that people give you or have given you or any suggestions or advice on how to deal with this? Yeah, so I mean, after the last video, calls from all over, very supportive. The viewers, incredible, like we've mentioned earlier. So I really appreciate that. And for everybody that called and has been watching, we have a huge issue, but people need to know about it. We need to be transparent about it and talk about it. And so there has been some other positive things that are happening. I'm starting to see some folks from the state kind of mobilize and show some support. And the governor did send his task force to Siskiyou County to help us. And that was back in July. They were there for a week. And there was a press release that came out where that was the biggest bust that they had done because there's so much of it there. And they really focused and they helped us out. And so I'm hoping they come back because again, we need the state's help. This is beyond a local problem. Now, when these busts happen, do they come back again? Or is there a way for you guys to stop them from coming back, getting rid of this ecosystem, whatever network it is? Yeah, it's very difficult. Because again, here's why it's difficult. Let me lay it out for you. The issue is who is responsible for the illegal grows? So again, we have people that are out there working and they're promised this abundant life to come and work and they're gonna get paid. So in a sense, they're part of the illegal activity. But they're not really the ones that are profiting. They're not the ones that are destroying the environment. There are other people that are up the chain. And so we wind up with a very difficult task of finding the person who's responsible. Because that's the person that we need to deal with. We need to prosecute that person to get that person to stop. And so it's hidden a lot of times, right? You might have a property deed with 20 names on it. And what often happens is that people will claim that they had no knowledge of what was going on on the property. Oh, it was my cousin, Tony. I had no idea what was, I'm sorry. And so as pathetic as that is, it works sometimes. And it's because there's not always opportunities to have hard evidence on folks when there's so many people involved. And so again, we are trying the best we can. A lot of sheriffs around the state of being creative because the legislature has not given us good tools to be effective. They've taken them away. And so again, it's up to local jurisdictions to do everything they can to deal with something that, again, like we've mentioned, is violent and is damaging to the environment. When we would expect the state to sort of be there as a partner with that, they've been distancing themselves. Why do you think that is? I've got some theories. I think there's a lot of support that over the years has come from the cannabis industry. And I think that the state is, in a sense, I think they're up against the potential to look like they don't support the legal industry. And what they really should do is a better job of talking about the black market, the illegal industry, and separating the two. Because I think everyone, personal opinion, should be able to kind of rally behind all the entities that are trying to go after the black market and taking that out. We should support the legal industry. But I think that the state has kind of gotten themselves in a place where they can't focus. It's gotten so out of hand that if they start to address the real issue, it's gonna be egg on their face. This episode is sponsored by Midas Gold Group. Do you feel the bills are getting higher and higher every time you check out the grocery store? Do you feel your monthly discretionary money has decreased although your income increases yearly? Inflation is eating away at your wealth. Digital wallets and central banks' digital currencies are destroying financial privatization. Only gold and silver are constitutional forms of money. Our privacy was to be protected against unlawful watch and seizure. Midas Gold Group will help you take control of your finances and protect your wealth and your privacy. Pulling money out of the questionable banking and investment system is the way to privatize your finances as the elite push us towards digital wallets and central bank digital currency. Protect your wealth with real money. Deal with the best at Midas Gold Group, a proud American first company. You can check them out at midasgoldgroup.com. Click on the link below and check them out. Now let's go back to the interview. And now in terms of the people that work in this gross that you guys arrest, who are they? Are they immigrants? Do they speak English? Do they come from different countries? I've heard that some people are getting traffic from Mexico or other places. Yeah, they're from all over. So undocumented folks. There's some that live in California that have, again, just saw an ad in the paper or online and came up to work. But it's a mix. A lot of people do not speak English. And when we speak to them, one of the sad things is that they seem confused because, again, they were promised all kinds of things. They were promised money and food and clothing and a place to live. And then they arrive at these locations. And you have a shack with no running water, with no septic. There's no way to heat the inside safely. And it's just failed promises that we see. And so I think that's really hard for me, personally, is I'm supposed to take care of everybody in the county, including the growers, if you will. And what do you do? You try to tell them what's going on and try to get them help. But we've had folks tell us that they're terrified. They're scared. They've been threatened. And they don't want to give up sources. They don't want to tell us maybe who employed them because they're afraid that they're going to get killed or their family is going to get killed. So everyone's wrapped up in this just awful circumstance. And do they have guns in those groves? Yeah, some groves do have firearms. It's becoming more common than not. And you ask people, why do you have firearms? Well, a lot of times they're told that people are going to try to come here and take your stuff. So you need to be able to protect yourself. That's why we see a lot of dogs that are chained up that are almost like junkyard dogs because people are told that people are going to come take your belongings and you need to defend yourself. And so people, they get guns. They get dogs. And a lot of it is, I think, unnecessary. But again, this is the circle that they're in. That's what they hear. That's the echo chamber that they're in, where they're hearing that law enforcement is going to come and hurt you. They're going to take you away from your families. Talk about misinformation just spread out throughout the illegal growers. I mean, it's crazy how that has been enabled in our community. The people you grew up with and the elders of the community, the people that are in the community, do they think they're losing their community to this? Most of them, they're sad to see what it's turned into. They're frustrated. Many are scared. They do feel like they're losing their community. Many folks have actually moved because they're scared. They don't want to be outside their house. I mean, you can hear gunfire from your backyard in some of these areas. Honestly, you'd think you were in a third world country a lot of times. There's wild dog packs running around. There's dead animals on the road. There's people that stop. Some of the illegal growers will stop people in the road and tell them to turn around. It's very uninviting. And people that are living in the community or retiring in the community, they don't want to be around that. And I feel terrible because that's an actual reality there. And again, I'm willing and able, but there aren't very good laws. California has sort of gone the route of decriminalizing everything. And yeah, I say that a little flippant, I guess, but it's true. I mean, that's the way we feel. Our ability to do our job effectively has been decreased, and it continues to decrease. And it's frustrating when the legislature or the state will say that they support law enforcement and they want us to do our job, but they take away everything. And I think that harms the community. Now, you grew up there in Siskiyou County, right? I did, yep. And did you ever think it would become like this? Absolutely not, yeah. I don't even recognize parts of it because it's not the place that I've known my whole life. And it's sad to see. I think people have been taken advantage of. The community has done its best to be supportive of local government to do the job. We've asked for help. And again, we just haven't seen the strong support that we need in order to fight back on this. Now, how does all this make you feel, seeing what you see in your community and the place you grew up in? Yeah, it's heartbreaking. It really is. And I think for a couple of different reasons. It's not just the unsightly marijuana and the environmental damage. But think about this, too. I mean, we're seeing people get hurt and killed in the community. And I don't think anyone's for that. I mean, like I said, it seems so ridiculous that people are flying in from, say, Florida or another state and they get in a shootout at a grow over marijuana because they wanted to buy it at a certain price and take it somewhere else and sell it for more. I mean, I don't understand why it's worth killing or dying over. And to have that kind of contingent in your county, it's devastating. That's not why people want to come to Siskiyou County. I mean, there's a lot of tourism in Siskiyou County. And it's like there's a mountains are beautiful, right? That's right. I mean, there are certain areas that people avoid now because there's actually a cave that it's called Pluto Cave. And people used to go there all the time. And it's right in where all the grows are at. And people don't really go there anymore. People that have gone there in recent times are sometimes met by growers that block the road, tell them that they can't be there, kind of threaten them. And it's like to have a county that relies on tourism for a lot of income and to have places like that where people can't even go, it's just crazy. Now, you guys, your county, your government officials, you guys are under pressure too, right? But this is not, I guess from what I've noticed is that these people are in the community and the growers are pressuring the county and the people in the government, right? You took this role. What was in your mind when you decided to jump on this to become the sheriff? Yeah, well, you know, honestly, I just wanted to do good things for the community. It sounds pretty innocent, but I mean, it's the truth. I got into this career field because I wanted to protect people. I wanted to serve, I get enjoyment out of that and just be there for people in their moment of despair or weakness. And with that, it propelled me now to the highest office in our county, and which is a huge honor. But we're always, as public officials, we're always under scrutiny, and I understand that, but I never thought that it would involve to such a depth, having to work against essentially, like we had mentioned, this organized crime. It's unrelenting, which really just propels me to fight back harder because that's my job. I can't give up. There's people that depend on me to do the right thing. And you're right, our whole government is under the same thing. And there's a lot of governments around the country that have other issues and they're scrutinized about things. Ours just happens to be over marijuana. But yeah, there's a lot of pressure. But again, it comes down to doing what's right. I don't think it's complicated. We try to make things complicated, but we have to do what the public wants us to do. We serve them. It's not difficult. We have to push our egos aside if there is an issue there. And we just have to do what's right for the people. And you have two deputies dealing with 2,000 girls, and there's 4,000 to 8,000 people that are in this business. And probably a lot of them are armed. How do you keep going with all of that? We just keep pushing through. Our folks are amazing. The two deputies that I have, they're amazing. They're willing to put their lives on the line to do what's right, and I commend them for that. One of the amazing things is that, I hate to say that you almost get used to having people not like you, or you get used to having evil in the world that is obviously gonna try to go after you. And so you almost become used to that and you try to ignore it because behind that is where we need to be. We need to be strong for the people. And so they're gonna continue to do their job, whether it's two, one, if it's just me out there. I mean, we have to keep going. Because it's a bigger thing than just the marijuana or whatever. I mean, sometimes there's evil in the world and you have to fight against it. And right now that's our issue, but it could be anything. Now, where do you think everything is headed? So you see the new laws passing, and you know what's going on with the growers. Do you think things will get stopped to some level or do you think we're gonna get into a position where we see some really bad situations like Mexico? Where do you think things are headed? Well, I really hope things get better and quickly. Again, there's so much damage that's occurring that could be long-term, right? The environmental stuff that we talked about. I'm somewhat optimistic about people realizing what's actually happening and sort of mobilizing. I think the public being informed can help pressure the right people to make the right decisions. So let me give you an example of something that's really concerning to me. Not that long ago, we had a traffic stop where we pulled some people over and in the vehicle was marijuana from one of our illegal grows. And the marijuana was going to a legal dispensary in California. And I had that marijuana sent off to a lab to be analyzed because I'm curious what's on the marijuana, right? That's something we don't usually do. So I had it tested at a lab and there was 11 samples that I sent out and 10 of them failed the analysis. And when I say failed, it's essentially they didn't pass what would qualify as passing by the Department of Cannabis Control. So the numbers were too high on certain pesticides. And so that's alarming to me. So some people might say, well, what's the big deal? Well, it's going to a licensed facility that's selling marijuana. So what happened to the safe marijuana that we were all promised? There's a good chance that marijuana in a dispensary is contaminated. And the reason being is we have so much marijuana going on in Siskiyou County and that's just our county, but we know it's going to dispensaries and we know it's dirty now and people are smoking it. And one of the interesting things and scary in my opinion, is we don't know what the long-term effects of smoking cannabis with these pesticides on them and to the quantities that we're seeing. Nobody's bothering to do a study on that, but can you imagine like a 70 year old cancer patient that's going and buying marijuana from a reputable place and finding out that it's contaminated with pesticides? I mean, that's scary. This is a public health issue and potentially a public health crisis. And I think people need to be alarmed by that, but aware of that, that you can't necessarily trust that the marijuana in a dispensary now is safe. Why do they use these chemicals? What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, that's the big mystery because why not just go buy stuff that's legal here and use it? They're getting shipped from China and a lot of the packaging you can't even read. We've tried to translate some of it, but it's dangerous. If you look at the compounds and look at the information about what's in the packages, it'll tell you harmful if inhaled, fatal if inhaled, harmful if swallowed, don't get in your eyes, all kinds of things that are quite frightening. But, and it's not just for us as law enforcement officers that respond to that. What about the growers? We've had people die in greenhouses and I bet it's because of these fumigants that they're using. And again, so these pesticides that they have in the Chinese labeled bags, they're burning them as fumigants, which you're not supposed to do. That's something that is not allowed in California. So we're dealing with something that not only is banned, but the method in which they're fumigating is completely illegal. And again, there's not a lot of consequence for that. It's extremely dangerous. And I think that the state needs to, they need to document and they need to make sure people are aware of exactly what's going on there. It's about transparency. In terms of these chemicals, have you guys come in touch with them? How dangerous are they? I know animals are getting killed, but how dangerous are they? Yeah, that's a great question. We've had a lot of exposures, honestly. And what I mean by that, burning skin, difficulty breathing, people have almost fainted. I mean, because- Your officers? Yes, some of mine, but also people with the state and other neighboring agencies that have come to help us. It's dangerous in these greenhouses and it's not done properly, right? People aren't cultivating lawfully. So we don't know what we're always encountering. So we've done better at trying to be more protective for our folks, but yeah, we're seeing things that are terrifying. And again, we're trying to deal with something with limited tools and it's a problem that was thrown on us by the state. And I do hold them responsible for that. I think that they can help fix it, but it's putting my deputies and other folks at risk. And again, with no repercussions for people that could potentially be hurting officers. I don't think anyone should be okay with that. How did you find out that it's going to illegal? You say you know that, how do you guys know that? Yeah, but- From the illegal growers to the cannabis. Yeah, good question. So just by talking to the people that were in the vehicle and they admitted that they were buying it because it was cheaper and they were going to take it to a dispensary and make more money off of it. The whole system's broken. And I know that people want to separate the legal industry from the illegal black market, but it's now starting to just blend together. And our current regulations and laws are too weak to handle that. And the whole thing is if the legislature, if the state is serious about combating this illegal activity, they need to step up because people are ingesting their smoking chemicals, pesticides that they shouldn't have in their body. That's a fact. Now, last time you were here, you asked the environmental groups and the animal abuse groups to come and talk to you. Did they ever reach out to you? They did not. I haven't heard from any of them. I honestly think there's too much heat on it. Maybe it's not interesting enough to them. But I find it, it's disappointing that folks that, it's back to that whole thing, it's the action. Where's the action? You have a lot of people saying, oh yeah, we support animal rights. We wanna make sure that the environment is stable and clean. Well, people say that stuff, but then we present an issue where it's contrary to that. How come people don't show up? Get nothing. And I think it's just because people don't wanna deal with the politics of it. Now, do you have any recommendations for the state leaders? Last time you were here, you wanted them to work with you. And it seems like they came and did some activity there. Do you have any thoughts what they should do to solve this? Yeah, I think state leadership and also the legislature needs to talk to the right people. They need to talk to law enforcement. They get these bills and they push them through, but oftentimes they don't discuss anything with law enforcement. The folks that are out there actually doing the work. And they need to partner with us. It's the craziest thing, but I feel like law enforcement has been sort of pushed aside from almost all conversations at the state level. And we're a huge part of the community. We do a lot of things and we need to be, I think, a little bit tighter on that. Cause we could tell it like it is, but then there's a willingness to listen. I think we can find solutions. It's not hard. That's what my job is all the time. And I don't know why the state isn't interested in that, but I think it's people get in their circles, their echo chambers, their silos, whatever you wanna say. And they decide on things, but they forget the people that are gonna go out and execute the laws and whatnot. And I think people are just afraid of holding people accountable. I think people are afraid at the state level, the legislature of getting pushback because they're recommending that people actually go to jail instead of getting a fine. You can't fine a cartel and expect them to disappear. And that's essentially what we've done. I mean, there's nothing that's gonna lock anybody up. And again, it's not that people should- We're seeing a business that you can easily pay the $500 fine every hour and be okay with it because you make a lot of money, right? It's become pay to play kind of thing, right? They're just, it's almost like you get a parking ticket, equivalent, there's a small fine, you pay it and you're right back parking in the same place. Making millions. Yeah, it's sort of a joke, but there's just no good avenue right now to get people to stop what they're doing. Again, sometimes laws are not about locking people up. It's deterring people from committing the crimes. There has to be a consequence to something, right? I mean, we've all tested that as kids. What's mom or dad gonna do if I have this cookie or if I sneak out or whatever? That's how we weigh things. That's the way we are as human beings. But if you know nothing's gonna happen to you or it's a small fine, you're gonna push the envelope, guaranteed. And that's what we're seeing. And so I think it's kind of embarrassing if our leaders think that people are just going to cooperate without having some kind of a consequence. I think that's embarrassing. Now, do you think there is a chance for you to go to Sacramento and testify and talk to some of these lawmakers and tell them about the situation on the ground? Or have you guys tried that with other counties? Because maybe the powerful lawmakers are from big cities and they may not be paying enough attention to you guys. Right, so we have, and some of the sheriffs have good working relationships like I do with folks that are part of the legislature. And we routinely do go to Sacramento for various things. And I think sometimes we have really good conversations. I just think it's such a, there's such a bigger picture that I don't know if everyone's really coming to the table like they should in the right times. And I don't know, just the way things go, I think that they're pretty quick. I don't think we often get to spend quality time with the folks that make laws. We each have our own little areas, maybe our districts or regions that we, like Southern California is different than Northern California. And maybe those people need to talk. But Northern California by far, I think is having the hardest time with marijuana. But Southern California may not need to concern themselves with that. But I think there needs to be way more interaction with everyone. I mean, it's a massive problem. And we have plenty of them. It's not just marijuana. But again, I think communication is key. And I think that we owe it to the public that put us in these positions to listen to them and to make smart decisions. And I think that oftentimes, it seems like people are not being transparent. Do you think the state leaders and these lawmakers should come and visit you guys to see what's happening, to see it for themselves? Absolutely. I invite anyone to come up and see what's going on up there. And that's always, that's gonna be an open invitation forever. Any state leader, anyone that's interested, there's nothing to hide. We'll take you on a tour. Because you should see the devastation. And we're open to suggestions. I will say the one suggestion we get is that, well, we need to legalize it in certain parts of our county and then this issue will go away. That's a complete lie. Because you can't legalize what you're seeing out there. Folks are not gonna comply with these laws. Because again, they're not gonna profit by getting permits. Hiring people, putting them on payroll, paying for health insurance, doing it the right way, have the legal HR rules. Right, yeah, talk to other counties that have both legal and illegal. And it's a mess. Because it's, again, it's not a perfect system. And people are always gonna go after profit. And you can profit way more on the illegal side. Jeremiah, do you have any other thoughts for our audience? Yeah, I think that we need to remember, I grew up in California. California is a beautiful place. There are so many people that want California to be successful. And I think it can be. I think that people need to just be well-informed about what's going on politically, but also just in the community. And I think that the state needs to be more transparent, put their ego aside. I think that people need to humble themselves and ask for help. And I think a lot of our leaders are seeing that there are so many problems in the state. And I think some of them are afraid to admit it. I think it's that back to that thing about egg on their face. And I think people just need to get past that. We need to just reach a place where we can just say, let's forget about all that stuff that happened and let's just move forward. And I hope people that are listening are empowered to get involved however they can, whether it's serving city council or anything, school boards, you name it. But the people have to get back and get serious about changing the state. I mean, if you wanna see change, be the change. I mean, we've heard that before. I know we can do it. I'm actually very optimistic about California. I don't think it has to be like this. I mean, I talked to a lot of people that remember a time when it wasn't like this and we can get back to that. So I just wanna encourage people to maybe look at the optimistic angle, but get back and get involved. And I think we can change things. Jeremiah Larue, Sheriff of Siskiyou County. It was great to have you on California Insider. Thanks for having me back. If you like the show and our content, you should go to insiderca.com and sign up to our newsletter because we never know what can happen with social media and other platforms in terms of distributing our content. If you'd like to come on the show and be an insider, you can reach out to us at cainsider at epochtimesca.com. Again, it's cainsider at epochtimesca.com. We would love to have you on the show to tell us what's going on in your field in California. Thank you for watching.