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• Mar 26, 2008 7:18 pm US/Pacific
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  Budget Cuts May Affect Sonora Drug Enforcement

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Budget Cuts May Affect Sonora Drug Enforcement

SONORA (CBS13) ― The War on Drugs has been going strong in the hills of Sonora. Agents have seized hundreds of thousands of marijuana plants over the years and shut down dozens of meth labs.

But the crackdown could soon stop because of budget cuts. Residents in the county are concerned.

"It's bad news for the county and the residents," said one resident. "The taxpaying people are not getting the enforcement they're paying for."

The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office says the department gets a total of $629,000 in grants. The proposed budget cuts would take away about two-thirds of that.

Sheriff Jim Mele says these cuts will hurt. In fact, he learned today that the marijuana suppression program has been eliminated altogether.

"It's not only the actually fight going out there on the street, but it's also educating the public," he said.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)