The "Butt-Crack Narc" who snitches on you

The Seattle Weekly has an article this week about whom exactly it is that turns you in to the cops for your pot growing:

As a general rule of agriculture, says Seattle attorney Jeff Steinborn, "If you are going to grow dope, it's best not to tell anyone about it." That's especially important in Washington, one of the top states for indoor marijuana grows and busts—almost all of which are sparked by tips from informants you had figured to be friends, visitors, or relatives. They include the Butt-Crack Narc —plumbers, dryer repairers, or maybe one of the furnace guys—who comes to your house, spots your dinky marijuana grow, and calls the cops
"Steinborn maintains that cannabis is not a dangerous drug and extreme measures to enforce dope laws are unjustified. In Washington, he says, where marijuana is the state's No. 1 one cash crop, a $5,000 reward awaits those who turn in marijuana farmers. But "I don't know of any rewards that encourage people to turn in murderers, rapists, or child molesters," he says. "It's all truly unfair. Tell me of any comparably minor crime where they take your home and car as well."

He says almost all indoor marijuana cultivation cases begin with anonymous tips. There are few figures, but the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, for one, says the majority of its pot busts—50 grow operations in 2001—are the result of tips from citizens. That includes several instances of pot gardens planted on state Department of Natural Resources land, spotted by hikers who called in the troops. King County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom says the department averages up to six tips a month including e-mail, mostly from neighbors witnessing heavy foot traffic at a nearby residence. "We do not actively recruit these tips; we simply let peoples' conscience guide them," Fagerstrom says. Tipsters include a teenager who turned in his parents. He "was concerned about their well-being and called in the tip for us to bust the parents' grow op," says Fagerstrom. "That caught national news attention." "

Funny, as I was reading the article my opinion shifted from understanding how someone might turn their parents in, such as on health grounds, to complete INcomprehension. I can't believe that someone might do that - though they might disagree with the action itself, the growers aren't peddling it on to anyone else and hence it only affects them. What's the long term goal?