Washington's Largest Cash Crop: Marijuana?



Story Published: May 23, 2008 at 6:28 PM PDT
By Chelsea Kopta Video KENNEWICK -- It's the start of the growing season and we're not talking cherries

Our state's biggest cash crop is actually marijuana, and much of it is grown right here.

Reports just came out, Washington detectives seized just under 300,000 pot plants in the state last year.

That ranks Washington second only to California, based on numbers from the National Drug Control.

And most of the marijuana comes from our little area.

Just try calling around find out about harvesting marijuana in our area.

Try the D.E.A, the F.B.I, the Metro Drug Task Force, State Patrol or any local sheriff's office from here to Spokane.

That's because our area, Franklin, Grant and Yakima counties, lead the list for the most popular spots to grow marijuana in the state.

"It is a huge illegal cash crop," Benton County Sheriff's Lieutenant Larry Smith said.

"The number of pot plants seized every year, since 2001 has doubled," Smith said. "Every year including last year."

Lieutenant Smith is a spotter for the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

He's the one who picks out the pot plants thousands of feet in the air.

That's no easy task, especially when they're tucked away in forests, Russian Olive trees, even corn fields to blend in and make them hard to spot.

"We're now seeing those same trends outdoor grows with shorter varieties under four feet tall," Smith said.

Drug enforcement agencies said tall marijuana plants, those 10-12 feet high, are becoming plants of the past.

Shorter stalks are easier to hide.

But even with punier plants, growers are making stronger strains.

"We're seeing a lot higher THC levels with higher quality plants," Smith said.

And higher quality plants pumps up the street value.

It depends on who you talk to, but a single plant might bring in anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000.

"most of our grows are 1-300 plants which is a lot of money if you're looking at $1,000 to $2,000 dollars a plant," Smith said.

Add it up yourself: each local county and roughly 8,000 plants totals millions of dollars of marijuana harvested right here.

Will it double again this year?

"I hope not, that's a lot of plants."

Local law enforcement agencies are still in their planning phases, before growing season really ramps up.

The high harvesting season is around July, August and September.

Not only do spotters find weed in rural areas, a huge portion is harvested on indian reservations.

Drug reps seized more than 100,000 plants on reservations last year.

http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/19226814.html