NORMAN SETS UP MARIJUANA HOT LINE

NORMAN -- Springtime means planting time. For police, that means
marijuana eradication time. To aid in this year's efforts, Norman
police have set up a new drug hot line for reporting both indoor and
outdoor marijuana-growing operations.

Rewards are being offered for information leading to the
identification of marijuana growers or the location of marijuana
crops, officer Jennifer Newell said.

"This program is another way we can help state drug agents who begin
this time of year actively looking for marijuana crops," she said.

Agents with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control are conducting flyovers in search of illegal crops, Newell
said.

"But this is another way we can help in cleaning up our own
community," she said.

Reports evaluated Each report leading to the eradication of marijuana
plants will be evaluated individually in terms of how much reward will
be paid, she said.

"We are not looking for information leading to an arrest and
prosecution necessarily," she said.

In many cases, officers cannot trace ownership of a crop, but can
eradicate it without that information.

Anyone with information about marijuana plants being grown, both
indoors and outdoors, should call Norman's new narcotics line at 366-5444.