IN EVERGREEN STATE, POT'S NO. 8 CROP

SPOKANE, Wash. - Law enforcement officers harvested a dubious
record last year: enough marijuana plants to rank the illegal weed as
Washington state's No. 8 agricultural commodity, edging sweet cherries
in value.

The 135,323 marijuana plants seized in 2005 were estimated to be worth
$270 million -- a record amount that places the crop among the state's
top 10 agricultural commodities, based on the most recent statistics
available.

"We're struck by the amount of work they put into it," said Lt. Rich
Wiley, who heads the Washington State Patrol narcotics program. "It's
very labor intensive. They often run individual drip lines to each
plant, and are out there fertilizing them. It takes a tremendous
amount of work."

But the net results are worth the effort, said Wiley, who coordinates
pot busts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local law
enforcement agencies.

A single plant can produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana,
worth an estimated $2,000, he said.

The estimated $270-million value of the plants seized in 2005 ranked
just above sweet cherries, which were valued at $242 million in 2004,
and just below the $329 million the state's nurseries and greenhouses
produced. Apples are the state's No. 1 agricultural commodity,
bringing $962.5 million in 2004.