POT, OR KENAF? VERDICT IS STILL OUT

Experts Often Fooled by Lookalike Plant

HARRISON COUNTY - It is unclear if Harrison County will be held liable
for a rural resident's claims that the sheriff destroyed his crops and
land by removing plants believed to be marijuana.

County officials will consider the man's complaint if he files a claim
with the Board of Supervisors, said Joe Meadows, county attorney.

Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Payne said he ordered the plants removed in the
best interests of the community.

At issue is Marion Waltman's anger over Payne's decision Monday to
destroy more than 500 plants. Authorities removed the plants and saved
samples for crime lab tests to determine if they are marijuana.

Waltman claims the plants are kenaf, which he says he planted to
attract and feed deer on land his hunting club leases near Herman
Ladner Road.

Meadows said he can't comment on the case, but said sovereign immunity
and reckless indifference are typical issues addressed in complaints
against a law enforcement agency's actions.

Dennis Wood, deputy director of the state Bureau of Narcotics, said
kenaf looks so much like marijuana that even he has been fooled.

"I had been a narc for 20 years when I thought I'd found the mother
lode, a big marijuana crop with an irrigation system. It turned out to
be kenaf," Wood said.

Wood said he is aware of only a few cases of kenaf growing around the
state, but he said it's more of a public safety issue for those who
mistake it for marijuana and try to smoke it, Wood said.

"It causes the muscles in the throat to contract. A few puffs can make
you physically ill."

Payne earlier this week said he received a tip about people picking
the plants. Payne said officers performed a field test, which was
inconclusive, and they sent samples to a crime lab and to Mississippi
State University, which has a federal grant to study kenaf, which is a
fibrous plant used in making paper.

"That's exactly what I would do," Wood said. "A field test only shows
probability. It won't hold up in court like a crime lab test."