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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...rijuana16.html

Pot edges cherries in value as a state agricultural product

SPOKANE -- Law enforcement officers harvested a dubious record last year: enough marijuana plants to rank the illegal weed as Washington state's No. 8 agricultural commodity, edging sweet cherries in value.

The 135,323 marijuana plants seized in 2005 were estimated to be worth $270 million -- a record amount that places the crop among the state's top 10 agricultural commodities, based on the most recent statistics available.

And like any agricultural product, marijuana is very much a commodity, Lt. Rich Wiley, who heads the Washington State Patrol narcotics program, said Wednesday.

"We're struck by the amount of work they put into it," Wiley said. "It's very labor-intensive. They often run individual drip lines to each plant and are out there fertilizing them. It takes a tremendous amount of work."

But the results are worth the effort, said Wiley, who coordinates pot busts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement agencies. A single plant can produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana, worth about $2,000, he said.

The estimated $270 million value of the plants seized in 2005 ranked just above sweet cherries, which were valued at $242 million in 2004, and just below the $329 million the state's nurseries and greenhouses produced. Apples are the state's No. 1 agricultural commodity, bringing $962.5 million in 2004.

The 2004 statistics, the most recent available, were released last year by the state Agriculture Department.

This is the seventh year in a row that record numbers of marijuana plants have been seized and destroyed statewide, the State Patrol said. The state's known pot harvest, based on seizures, went from 66,521 plants in 2003 to 132,941 in 2004, then to 135,323 last year.

Most of the growing operations were in Eastern Washington, principally outdoors on federal or state land in remote locations near a source of water, the State Patrol said.

Chelan County produced the most domestic marijuana, as federal, state and county drug agents seized 37,086 plants last year. Grant County was second, with 20,521 plants seized. Thousands of plants also were seized in both Yakima and Franklin counties in Eastern Washington.

King County, in Western Washington, was third in numbers of plants seized -- 16,809 -- many from indoor growing operations.