AUTHORITIES TARGET MARIJUANA GROWERS

Demand For Drug As Strong As Ever

The dope smoking days of the '60s have been replaced by the dope
smoking days of the '90s.

Marijuana is more popular than ever, according to law enforcement
officials who are in search of growers, dealers and users.

"If anything, I think [demand] is going up," said 1st Sgt. Mark
Petska, coordinator of the marijuana eradication program for the
Virginia State Police. "There's a lot of pot everywhere."

Lt. Jerry Stokes, who heads the Narcotics and Vice Unit for the
Lynchburg Police Department, agrees.

"Cocaine seems to be maintaining its own, but marijuana is growing by
leaps and bounds," he said.

Stokes noted that those convicted of selling marijuana generally
receive lighter sentences than those pushing other drugs, and dealing
is highly profitable.

A pound of marijuana sells for between $1,000 and $2,000 in Virginia
and one plant can produce up to a pound.

"If you're a good grower . . . you should be able to easily yield a
half pound out of a plant," Petska said.

Statewide this year, law enforcement agencies have arrested 116
growers and seized 13,545 marijuana plants, according to Petska, who
noted that some localities have not yet reported all their busts.

Petska said that, three years ago, police arrested only 25 to 50 pot
growers, but efforts to catch and arrest growers have stepped up in
recent years thanks to joint efforts among a variety of agencies, with
the state police taking the lead.

In addition to daytime helicopter fly-overs, police have infrared
radar devices aboard the choppers that can detect marijuana at night.

The night fly-overs help detect marijuana being grown indoors, Petska
said. The infrared cameras pick up heat released from the plants late
at night after radiational heat from a building has disappeared. The
plant heat makes the building glow.

"It really sticks out," he said.

Petska said that while police used to concentrate their efforts on
eradicating marijuana plants, they now emphasize nabbing the growers.
Using hidden cameras around a field, police can catch a grower on
camera "and make a movie star out of him," Petska said. A wireless
sensor triggers the video camera when it senses body heat or a ground
disturbance.

The quality of Virginia and U.S.-grown marijuana has come a long way
since the 1960s, according to Petska.

"U.S. dope is good dope," he said. "It used to be junk."

Thirty years ago the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, was 2
percent to 3 percent. Now it's 18 percent to 25 percent. THC is what
produces euphoria in users.

While August and September are prime harvesting months for marijuana,
the season may be pushed back this year because many growers wait
until the first frost locks the THC in the leaves, Petska said.

In central Virginia, Nelson County has the most prolific pot crop.
During this summer's eradication program, officials found 347 plants
throughout the county, according to Sheriff Ron Wood.

"This year we got $347,000 worth of marijuana," he said, adding that
no growers have been arrested yet, but he hopes that some will be.

The Nelson County plots of marijuana were spotted from helicopters
doing fly-overs. Most of the plants were in the Schuyler area,
although they were found throughout the county, Wood said.

While the haul was significant, it doesn't match that of two years ago
when 500 plants were confiscated in Nelson County, Wood said.

The sheriff attributes the rural nature of the county and its location
- --on a straight shot from Washington, D.C., to Florida via U.S. 29 --
to its popularity as a pot cultivation spot.

Fly-overs in Bedford County, however, revealed nothing this year or
the year before.

Lt. Rick Wiita said patches of two to four plants have been found and
that 50 plants have been have confiscated this year. The tiny patches
make eradication by air very difficult, he said.

While large patches of marijuana are seldom found, he said, drug
arrests of all types are up this year and may increase 200 percent to
300 percent from last year.

Marijuana is still popular in Bedford County, he said, and users of
all ages -- from pre-teens to those in their 60s--have been arrested
for possession.

In Campbell County, authorities only found seven plants this year
during the eradication program, according to Investigator Kristin
Keesee. Last year the sheriff's office found 47 plants during
eradication, but also bagged 927 plants and made two arrests thanks to
a report from a resident.

Law enforcement officials depend on citizen help to nab growers. Any
suspicious activity, including vehicles repeatedly parked in
out-of-the-way places, people walking in fields and woods dressed in
camouflaged clothing and not hunting and the sound of power saws and
water pumps in secluded places might indicate pot-growing activity.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry