Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) Copyright: 2002 Chattanooga Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.timesfreepress.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992 Author: Candice Combs, Staff Writer REGIONAL MARIJUANA GROWTH ON THE DECLINE, OFFICIALS SAY Even though marijuana remains a problem, drug enforcement officials say they see a decline in crops throughout Southeast Tennessee. "Years ago, we used to find it by the acre," said Dale Hesketh, an agent with the Governor's Task Force for Marijuana Eradication. "The biggest bust we've seen lately was what we found in Bledsoe (County) last year." Last year, investigators found 176,000 plants with an estimated value of $80 million in Bledsoe County, the state's largest ever find. Five years ago hemp-hunters found a stand of 18,000 plants. But Bledsoe is the exception, said Mark Hutchins, chief law enforcement officer with the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion and Rhea counties have shown significant decreases in cannabis plantings, he said. "Looking back, Southeast Tennessee - especially Grundy County - was one of the highest producers (of marijuana)," Mr. Hutchins said. "Now everyone's more into meth." Although drug enforcement officials said marijuana confiscation levels have dropped because of an increase in methamphetamine production, it's still the state's No. 1 cash crop, with a street value of more than $1 billion a year, Mr. Hutchins said. "We found 10,000 plants here last week, and somebody was planning on smoking that," said Rhea County Sheriff Leon Sneed. Almost two-thirds of the plants are grown atop the Cumberland Plateau, drug enforcers said. Last August, authorities recovered more than 166,000 marijuana plants growing in a cornfield near U.S. Highway 127 at the head of the Sequatchie Valley. This year, the task force already has found more than 360,000 plants in Tennessee. "These growers jump around a lot - from county to county," Mr. Hutchins said. "If they don't plant it on their own property, they're hard to track down." According to District Attorney Mike Taylor with the 12th Judicial District, growers in Bledsoe, Rhea and Grundy historically have planted marijuana on land owned by others, either the U.S. government or big landowners. "It's usually planted out in no-man's land," Mr. Taylor said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom