Outdoor marijuana plant eradication in California leveled off in 2008 after five years of staggering increases. According to figures provided to CelebStoner by CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting), 2,905,232 plants were seized - just 211 more than in 2007.

"Like the Obama vote turnout, lots of media hype, but numbers similar to the prior national election," says NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre. "Same can be said for CAMP’s efforts - lots of friendly press and pretty photos, but the numbers speak to an outdoor cannabis production market in California that is flattening out a bit.

"Also, these flat CAMP numbers belie the assertions made by the California Narcotic Officers' Association, HIDTA [High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas] lobby and the ONDCP [Office of National Drug Control Policy] that there is an explosion of cultivated cannabis plots because of the state’s medical cannabis laws.

"Post 2004, the number of cannabis plants eradicated in California make up a substantial amount of the grand total of plants uprooted in the entire country."

CAMP's Susanne Kegarese counters: "One of the main reasons that the number of plants eradicated this year is low was due to the large fires that wiped out all vegetation in the Humboldt/Mendocino area in early summer. If we had not encountered these fires, the number of plants eradicated in those areas would have risen dramatically."

CAMP Plant Seizures in California, county by county