FORCE GEARS UP FOR DRUG HARVEST

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. -- More than 80,000 marijuana plants have been uprooted
from corn fields here since Tuesday, and authorities still are hauling
plants away by the truckload.

Thanks to a statewide program -- the Governor's Task Force on Marijuana
Eradication -- this likely will be just one of the many marijuana seizures
taking place during the next few weeks, according to Jimmy Barnes with the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's drug investigation division.

"This task force operates more strongly through summer months because of
outdoor growing operations," Mr. Barnes said. "Harvest season is approaching."

In fiscal year 1999-2000 the task force assisted local and federal agencies
in removing and destroying 487,634 outdoor marijuana plants located in
3,538 state plots, according to the task force's state drug investigation
report.

There were 1,134 arrests made and $330,623 in cash and real property seized
as a result of the efforts made by the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage
Commission, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee National Guard and
the TBI, which provide the bulk of task force's personnel.

Funding for the program stems from federal grants given through the Drug
Enforcement Agency's Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program, Mr.
Barnes said.

In 1998, 28 counties in Tennessee were designated as an Appalachia High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, according to a report by the Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

This designation was the result of a threat assessment by ONDCP that
determined "large numbers of marijuana traffickers utilize the tri-state
area, as it is geographically convenient to a significant proportion of the
remaining United States."

With the ideal growing conditions experienced this spring, authorities
anticipate an early harvest of marijuana and are asking the public to look
for signs that would indicate an outdoor marijuana growing operation.

Indicators include:

a.. Unusual amounts of traffic on and off the property (usually at night.)

a.. Use of tents, campers or other recreational vehicles on wooded property
with no evidence of recreational activities taking place.

a.. Unusual purchases of fertilizer, garden hoses, plastic PVC pipes,
chicken wire, lumber, machetes, camouflage netting and clothing.

a.. Large mounts of PVC pipe or irrigation hoses in heavily wooded areas
and/or heavily patrolled or guarded woods, fields and other remote areas.

If a clandestine marijuana growing operation is suspected, anonymous tips
can be made to the TBI by calling (800) 248-WEED.