State Senator Ted Gaines wants to send the National Guard into Siskiyou County to fight marijuana growers. The Senator has sent a letter to the Governor urging that he declare a State of Emergency for Siskiyou, which would be required for the involvement of National Guard troops. Gaines claims that restrictions on marijuana cultivation are being ignored and that the growers presence threatens the safety of the county’s residents. He says the problem is too large to be handled by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, which has had a rough relationship with the area’s pot growers, particularly those of Asian descent. A lawsuit alleging voter intimidation on the part of the sheriff was recently dismissed. It had been filed by members of the Siskiyou Hmong refugee community, which the sheriff had said was engaged in widespread marijuana cultivation in violation of the county’s restrictive rules. A brother and sister are facing charges of attempting to bribe Sheriff Jon Lopey for his cooperation with a marijuana trafficking organization. Gaines also cites the use of hazardous pesticides, which eventually make their way into the county’s rivers and streams and harm the livestock and agriculture industries. Gaines calls the growers a “criminal class that is in complete contempt of the law”. The Governor has not responded.