Created in 1983, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting is a multi-agency law enforcementtask force managed by the California Department of Justice and composed of local, state and federal agencies organized expressly to eradicate illegal cannabis cultivation and trafficking in California. With more than 110 agencies having participated, CAMP was the largest law enforcement task force in the United States. CAMP's stated primary objectives include "reducing the supply of marijuana to the illegal drug trade by eradicating the large marijuana crop sites; increasing public and environmental safety by removing marijuana growers from public and private lands; investigating indoor growing operations; deterring potential growers; and promoting public information and education on marijuana." CAMP agents are divided into five teams covering Northern, Central and Southern California regions. Headed by the California Department of Justice, CAMP includes local, state and federal agencies that work to eradicate illegal indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivation and trafficking throughout California. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, California National Guard, California State Parks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and dozens of local police and sheriff departments from across the state participate in the program.
In 1996, California voters approved ballot proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, legalizing the medical use of cannabis. As a consequence, CAMP's commander, a California law-enforcement officer, has been specifically ordered by the state Attorney General to respect the state's medical marijuana laws in the course of his duties. Consequently, CAMP has shifted priority to large commercial grow operations on public lands, and coordinates with county authorities so as to not interfere with medical grow operations known to them, which in any event tend to be smaller. Nevertheless, such operations are still against Federal law and, as such, are subject to action by the DEA. While the influence of CAMP has waned with Compassionate Use and decriminalization of marijuana, there is a renewed interest at the state level regarding valid growing permits and environmental concerns. As a result, CAMP is today still utilized as a policing body, in accordance with the DEA. Yearly CAMP reports, published by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement are available online through Humboldt State University’s Special Collections. Starting in 1983, the annual reports detail the organizational structure and names of individual participants, a summary of the season's activities, tactics, and mention of special successes, trends and hazards.
