As part of a state of emergency declared by a southern Oregon county on the same day as a sharp increase in illegal cannabis farms, police raided a marijuana grow site that contained more than 2 tons of processed marijuana as well as 17,500 pot plants in the last two weeks.

This marijuana raid illustrates just how bad the situation has become with the rapid increase of industrial-scale marijuana farms that Jackson County commissioners requested that Gov. Kate Brown sends in the Oregon National Guard to assist in enforcing laws about marijuana production.

Also, they directly approached Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney and Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek for help in acquiring finances to address the issue.

Last Wednesday, police raided an outdoor growing operation in Medford, near the border of California. They found harvested plants on drying racks and 3,900 pounds (1,800 kilograms) of resinous buds packed in large bags and stacked in plastic storage tubs.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said 26 migrant workers were arrested, interviewed and then released. They have issued a warrant for controlling the primary suspect.

In response to the influx of illegal marijuana farms starting to crop up in Jackson County and neighboring counties, Oregon's National Guard should intervene, Courtney said. Many of the illegal growers are armed.

According to a July letter from the Josephine County commissioners, migrants are exploited and exposed to "appalling conditions" while living in tents without toilets, no running water or bathing facilities, and no refrigeration or proper cooking facilities.

A fabled marijuana-growing epicenter, the Emerald Triangle, which falls mainly within Mendocino, Mendocino East, Humboldt and Trinity counties in California, is considered the northern extension of Jackson and Josephine counties.