WEATHER ALSO HURT GROWERS OF POT

- - The terrible weather in North Florida may have been on the side of law
enforcement trying to halt illegal pot plantations.

Drought, floods and fires did more than smack the state's farmers with
millions in losses.

The series of natural disasters also ravaged the state's lucrative but
illegal marijuana crop.

Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement discovered only about
half the number of marijuana plants this growing season that they normally
do. They credit the drop to terrible growing conditions.

``A lot of the prime areas were hit hard,'' said Dave Broadway, coordinator
for the FDLE's domestic marijuana program. ``If you're having trouble
irrigating a legitimate crop, imagine how much harder it would be for an
illegal crop you have to hide.''

The agency uprooted about 50,000 plants during the season that normally runs
from planting around Good Friday to harvesting now.

They would normally seize about 100,000 plants, Broadway said, or about a
quarter to a third of the state's crop.

Agents also reported finding a larger number of stunted and sickly plants,
withered by drought and heat.

Arrests are up slightly from the typical 300 to 400 a year because the
growers are forced to plant closer to their homes or property to make the
plants easier to tend. More distant plants make it difficult to prove who
tended them.

Virtually all of the disasters to strike North Florida and the Panhandle,
the state's main pot-growing areas, hit the pot farmers.

The spring rains forced many to plant late, then the young plants were hit
by drought in May and June. Wildfires swept through other prime growing
regions on the east coast, Broadway said.

Unlike the early '80s when fields would have 20,000 plants, a large find now
is about 200, hidden in forests or under camouflage netting. Still, even
with a small field, the crop can be lucrative.

The FDLE gives what it says is a low estimate of $1,000 for each plant that
will produce about a pound of marijuana.

``If you got a pound for $1,000, you made a good deal,'' Broadway said.

The state's main pot growing area is from Alachua County north.

``It's more rural and you have more people with the expertise in
agriculture,'' Broadway said.

The stunted harvest likely affected the price smokers pay for domestic
marijuana, which is more expensive and more highly sought than imported pot
from Mexico, Broadway said.

The busted harvest probably won't mean a lack of marijuana on the streets,
though.

``Somebody from another state will try to fill the market,'' Broadway said.

Neil Johnson covers water issues and the weather. He can be reached End of
Leg 2 (1 lineshort) at (352) 544-5214.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst