ANNUAL EFFORT TO DESTROY MARIJUANA CROPS RESUMES

Officials Are Spraying Ditch Weed And Looking For Cultivated Plants
In Corn, Soybean Fields

WHEATFIELD, Ind. -- The annual effort to halt the spread of ditch
weed and cultivated marijuana in trenches, roadways and farm fields
is again under way in northwest Indiana.

Marijuana was a government-subsidized crop during World Wars I and II
when hemp was used to make rope, but it since became a widely used
drug.

As a result, the Drug Enforcement Administration started a program to
aggressively halt the spread of ditch weed and cultivated marijuana
grown indoors and in the middle of farm fields from May to November.

Last year, the DEA spent $13 million to support 96 state and local
agencies actively trying to get rid of the drug.

Wild marijuana looks much like any other weed -- emerald green with
small, jagged-teeth leaves -- but is difficult to kill.

Indiana State Police Trooper Don Hartman began working with the
Jasper County Weed Board's eradication program to spray last month.

"This is a very hardy plant," Hartman said. "Once it goes to seed,
it's spread by animals, birds or the wind. You have to actually
destroy the seed and sterilize it, but it's not possible. We spray
the plant, but we have to keep checking the same area to see if it's
really gone."

Hartman said the seeds can lie dormant 7 to 10 years before sprouting.

Authorities also are searching for cultivated plants, those grown
indoors and transplanted to farm fields hidden among corn and
soybeans. They typically grow 15 to 18 feet tall and are visible only
by helicopter.

Police said a pound of cultivated marijuana is worth about $1,500 on
the street.