SMALLER POT PATCHES GROWN TO AVOID DETECTION FROM AIR

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the age of downsizing comes the revamped pot plant.

Marijuana growers in West Virginia are cutting down on the number of plants
they grow, apparently to keep police from seeing them through aerial surveys.

"Looking for marijuana is a lot like looking for needles in a haystack,"
said Steve Jones, marijuana eradication officer for the West Virginia State
Police.

In 1985, the average marijuana plot seized by West Virginia police had 338
plants. That figured had dropped to 119 by 1990 and to 78 plants last year.

"Before we started flying, people grew huge fields. After we started flying
a lot, people were making an effort to make smaller, less visible patches,"
Jones said.

Drug control officers hitch helicopter rides with the state police aviation
unit, the Civil Air Patrol, the Army National Guard or the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Marijuana patches look unique from the sky, he said.

"Depending on how well fertilized it is, it often looks more vibrant than
the plants around it," Jones said. If it doesn't look like nature put it
there, it probably didn't."

Federal officials announced last week a $6 million grant to help detect and
stop drug cultivation and trafficking in rural West Virginia, Kentucky and
Tennessee.

Despite authorities' efforts, eradication and prosecution efforts are
difficult due to the region's makeup: a high poverty rate, an ideal climate
for growing marijuana and the geography, including rough terrain and
sparsely travelled interstate highways.

Checked-by: Richard Lake