FEDERAL PROGRAM WILL COMBAT APPALACHIA'S MARIJUANA INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON (AP)-- Marijuana production and distribution in Appalachia is so
rampant that members of Congress declared 65 counties in Kentucky, West
Virginia, and Tennessee a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, earmarking 6
million dollars to combat marijuana growth in the region.

White House Drug Policy Director Barry R. McCaffrey joined Sen. Wendell
Ford, D-Ky., and Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., Wednesday in announcing the
creation of the Appalachia area, where task forces of state and federal
officials will implement a variety of anti-drug programs.

"If we're going to get serious about winning the war on drugs, it's going to
take an innovative, focused effort from all segments of our law enforcement
and governmental agencies," Ford said Wednesday.

Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee are three of the five states that
comprise the "Marijuana Belt" -- the region that produces 90 percent of the
nation's domestically grown marijuana.

Rural poverty and an optimal climate make marijuana Appalachia's biggest
cash crop. The region is also a hub for interstate drug trafficking.

Appalachia is the 20th region to be designated a High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area since the program's 1990 inception. The newest area will
have headquarters in London, Ky., with operation centers in each of the
three states.