Photos: Pot-grower’s paradise is lawman’s limbo
A greenhouse in a clearing in Humboldt County’s remote Shelter Cove, where marijuana is a pillar of the economy. Residents tolerate the growers but decry a rising “outlaw mentality” in town. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
A dog patrols rows of marijuana plants growing in Shelter Cove. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
Jake Berlingeri, right, and his pals grow about 200 marijuana plants on a hillside in Humboldt County’s remote Shelter Cove. They have pot prescriptions for insomnia, torn rotator cuff and other ailments. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Hamilton, not pictured, recently came upon nine young men growing about 200 marijuana plants on a Humboldt County hillside. But he couldn’t do much about it. “I’m a realist,” he said. “It does no good to rip all these plants out.” (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)