STATE COPS ASK HELP IN SPOTTING POT

LANSING - While enjoying the outdoors this summer, Michigan State
Police troopers are asking residents and travelers to be on the
lookout for indicators of illegal marijuana planting.

"With its fertile land and remote areas, Michigan is a popular state
for marijuana planting," said Col. Peter C. Munoz, director of the
Michigan State Police. "To avoid apprehension and forfeiture of their
property, growers often plant marijuana on public land or on the
property of others, making it common to find marijuana plants in farm
fields, backyards, natural forest openings and the shores of lakes,
rivers, streams and swamps."

Indicators of outdoor grow operations include unusual amounts of
traffic; use of camping equipment or recreational vehicles on wooded
property with no evidence of recreational activities; persons with
little or no farming experience who purchase fertilizer, plastic PVC
piping, chicken wire, camouflage netting and clothing; large amounts
of PVC piping or irrigation hoses located in heavily wooded areas;
and patrolled or guarded woods, swamps and other remote areas.

To report a suspected marijuana grow site, call 1-800-235-4367.
Callers can remain anonymous. Individuals should not attempt to take
action themselves, but instead report the site to law enforcement as
soon as possible.

Last year, the Michigan Domestic Cannabis Eradication and Suppression
Program found 23,198 plants growing outdoors and 12,388 plants were
found growing indoors, an increase from the 26,716 plants located in 2006.

"Michigan licenses more than 750,000 hunters each year, and there are
countless outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy the natural resources found
in the nearly seven million acres that make up our state and national
forests. These individuals are more likely to run into a remote grow
operation than the public at large," said Capt. Thomas Courchaine,
acting assistant chief for the Michigan Department of Natural
Resources Law Enforcement Division. "The DNR encourages anyone who
discovers a grow operation or evidence of a grow operation to call
the HEMP hotline or the DNR's Report All Poaching hotline at 1-800-292-7800."

Posters and other materials encouraging outdoor enthusiasts to be on
the lookout for marijuana are being posted by the DNR this summer at
state forest campgrounds, state parks and recreation areas and at the
trailhead of trails and pathways across Northern Michigan.