MARIJUANA FOUND IN LISBON HAD LITTLE POTENCY, POLICE SAY

CANTON - Plants harvested in the town of Lisbon in September were
marijuana but had little THC, The main psychoactive compound for which
it is prized, according to a laboratory analysis.

"It is marijuana, but very poor marijuana," St. Lawrence County
Sheriff Gary J. Jarvis said Tuesday after receiving a lab report
comparing a sample of the marijuana seized in Lisbon with a more
potent strain of Canadian marijuana seized by the county's drug task
force.

Drug task force members, sheriff's deputies, U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration agents and members of the National guard harvested
between 75,000 and 80,000 marijuana plants along Pray road, Lisbon,
Sept. 10. Most of the plants were destroyed, But a one-pound sample
was taken by DEA agents for testing.

The Lisbon plants contained an average of 0.14 percent of THC, short
for tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary active ingredient in marijuana
and hashish, according to a report from Dr. Samir A. Ross of the
National Center for National products Research at the University of
Mississippi where the plants were tested.

"The U.S. average potency for marijuana is between six and eight
percent," according to Undersheriff Kevin M. Wells. Plants containing
less than three percent THC are considered to have little drug potential.

By contrast, a sample of high-quality Canadian hydroponically grown
marijuana submitted for testing at the same time contained 18.26
percent THC, according to the lab report.

"Knowing what the THC level is, probably we wouldn't have gone over
and pull it up," Mr. Jarvis said.

While the original source of the plants uprooted in September isn't
certain, Mr. Jarvis said steps are being planed to make sure they
don't regrow.

"In the spring of the year we are going to spray it so we won't ever
have that issue again," Mr. Jarvis said.

The planed spraying comes with the consent of the owner of the land
where the plants were found, Mr. Jarvis said.

"He is annoyed by people going over there and pulling this stuff," the
sheriff said.