In Evergreen State, Pot’s No. 8 Crop

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.

“We’re struck by the amount of work they put into it,” said Lt. Rich Wiley, who heads the Washington State Patrol narcotics program. “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 net results are worth the effort, said Wiley, who coordinates pot busts with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement agencies.

A single plant can produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana, worth an estimated $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.