From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Illegal Marijuana Eradication Efforts

Description: This podcast covers DEA efforts to help state and local
agencies tackle illegal marijuana crops.

Related GAO Work: GAO-19-9: Illegal Marijuana: Opportunities Exist to
Improve Oversight of State and Local Eradication Efforts

Released: November 2018

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[Gretta Goodwin:] We're asking that the DEA really develop consistent
framework and guidelines around what it's collecting and how it's being
collected.
 
[Matt Oldham:] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news
and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt
Oldham. As more states decriminalize or legalize recreational or
medicinal marijuana, it remains generally illegal under federal law, but
the Federal Government still plays a role in helping state and local
agencies eradicate illegal marijuana. And yes, this includes states that
have legalized some level of possession or growing. I'm with Gretta
Goodwin, a Homeland Security and Justice director, who led a report
looking into federal oversight of these state and local eradication
efforts. Gretta, how big of an issue is illegal marijuana for states
that have passed some level of legalization? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] You know, it varies by states, but in some places,
it's really quite a significant challenge. So let's look at California,
for example. The main reasons that make California a good place to grow
grapes for making wine are also the reasons it makes California a good
place to grow marijuana. And some of the marijuana that's grown in
California, it is legal under state law, but some of the growing occurs
outside of the state-regulated system -- for example, the illegal
growing that occurs on national forests and on farmland that have been
trespassed. This illegal growing that we know is in part because of
marijuana can be shipped to other states where it sells for a higher
price. 

[Matt Oldham:] So what is the Federal Government's role in all of this? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] Yeah, so the Drug Enforcement Administration,
otherwise known as the DEA, provides some funding to assist states with
eradication efforts. The state and local agencies actually lead those
efforts, but the DEA provides the funding. And so over the past several
years, the DEA has provided about $17 million annually to states and
local agencies to assist in their eradication efforts. 

[Matt Oldham:] So the DEA is giving millions of dollars to state and
local agencies in order to help eradicate this illegal marijuana. What
does that money buy? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] So we did look at spending reports that the state and
local agencies submitted to the DEA, and in some of the spending reports
that we reviewed -- let's talk California -- the monies were spent on a
lot of helicopters and overtime. And the overtime, of course, is
reflecting some really long hours. Those helicopters were used to
transport law enforcement officers in and out of the eradication sites.
The helicopters were also used to transport the marijuana plants out of
the eradication site, so to get them off those lands. 

[Matt Oldham:] Do we know how the DEA is doing, or do we know how
efficiently their resources are being used by the state and local
agencies? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] That's difficult to say because the DEA doesn't set
targets for what it hopes to accomplish. That's something that we talk
about further on in the report. So the DEA might collect information on
the number of plants eradicated, but without a targeted level of
performance, it's difficult to get a sense for the context around those
numbers. So we couldn't determine whether they achieved those targets or
goals in any given year. We do know that if the DEA were to have
targets, that would be an opportunity for them to learn and to start
allocating resources more effectively and efficiently, but until they
have targets, we have no way of knowing.

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[Matt Oldham:] So it sounds like the DEA is helping state and local
agencies eradicate millions of illegal marijuana plants annually, but
it's been difficult for them to keep track of how much this support
achieves. Gretta, what does your report recommend? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] So the main points of the recommendations is that the
DEA pay attention to how the money is being spent. What we know is that
some states and local agencies will submit receipts. Some submit
receipts for everything that they do. Some submit receipts for some of
the stuff that they do. And so we're asking that the DEA really develop
consistent framework and guidelines around what it's collecting and how
it's being collected. So the 4 recommendations that we made really speak
to that. 

[Matt Oldham:] So Gretta, what do you believe is the bottom line of your
report? 

[Gretta Goodwin:] So as we've talked about, more states have started to
legalize marijuana, but there's still a bit of a black market. And in
other states, all marijuana still illegal. In this context, the law
enforcement agencies are still finding and destroying illegally grown
marijuana, and our report recommends several ways that the DEA can
improve its management of the marijuana eradication program. 

[Matt Oldham:] Gretta Goodwin is a Homeland Security and Justice
director here at GAO, and she was talking about a GAO report on federal
oversight of state and local illegal marijuana eradication efforts.
Thank you for your time, Gretta. 

[Gretta Goodwin:] Thank you.

[Matt Oldham:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. For more from the
congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit
us at GAO.gov.

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