Authorities shut down one of Oregon’s biggest medical marijuana operations this morning as part of a federal investigation into drug manufacturing and distribution.
About 9:30 a.m. today, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided The High Hopes Farm, James Bowman’s medical marijuana operation outside Jacksonville. The government brought earth-moving equipment to remove Bowman’s crop.
Bowman, a longtime fixture in southern Oregon’s medical marijuana community, faces the prospect of federal drug charges. He isn’t expected to be taken into police custody today, sources said.
Last spring, Bowman allowed The Oregonian to spend time on his farm and answered wide-ranging questions about his operation. He said at the time that his candor was a high-stakes gamble that could draw law enforcement’s attention.
Authorities this morning raided seven grow sites associated with Bowman’s Jackson County marijuana operation. Bowman told The Oregonian last spring he would grow 400 this year, each producing an estimated 3 pounds of marijuana.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland declined to comment on the raids, saying only that federal drug agents executed search warrants as part of an ongoing investigation.
– Read the entire article at Oregon Live.
