$643,000 Federal Grant to Fund Satellite to Detect Marijuana

MARIJUANA January 1993

A $643,500 federal grant provided through the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under the Bush administration will go to fund a satellite system to detect both outdoor and indoor marijuana cultivation, prompting fears of civil liberties violations, according to a December story by the Copley News Service (Aurelio Rojas, Copley News Service, "Marijuana War to Get Assist From Satellite," Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA), 12/9/92).

If completed, the satellite system the Santa Monica, California Sheriff's Department would team up with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop the system. Since the grant was proposed by the ONDCP under Bush, it was unclear whether it would go forward under the incoming Clinton administration.