Ohio law enforcement officials seized more marijuana plants in Ohio in the first 10 months of 1997 than they have in each of the past five years, said Chris Davey, communications director for the Ohio Attorney General's office.

Of the 74,350 marijuana plants seized by the Ohio Attorney General's office between January 1997 and October 1997, 1,989 came from 47 plots in Athens County, he said.

The plants, confiscated through the Ohio Marijuana Eradication/Aviation Program, have a combined street value of more than $74 million, Davey said.

So far, 32,000 and 20,000 more plants have been seized statewide than in 1996 and 1995 respectively, according to an attorney general's office press release.

Many Ohio counties, including Athens and Meigs counties, are traditionally considered marijuana-growing counties and tend to have a higher confiscation rate, he said.

Several factors, including socioeconomic, geographic and population factors, contribute to the high marijuana growth rate in Southeast Ohio and Athens County, said Scott King, director of the Southeast Counties of Ohio Narcotics Task Force.

"The ruralness of the area and how the population is spread out provides more areas to cultivate without detection," King said.

Soil conditions and economic benefits in Southeast Ohio prompt many people to grow marijuana, he said.

"This is a high poverty area and an economic supplement gains more ground. Geographically, the Ohio river valley is notable for its fertile ground. With such a good natural thing, people are planting more," King said.

The majority of plants seized in Ohio generally are from outdoor plots and operations, and this year in Athens County, some plants have been found in Wayne National Forest, Davey said.

"Wayne National Forest encompasses a huge chunk of territory in Ohio and we have found some marijuana growing activity there," he said. But, he added, most if not all of the seizures were on privately owned land within the forest lines.

Marijuana plants grown on outdoor plots are hard to confiscate and the attorney general's office often needs outside help, Davey said. Once a plot is seen from helicopters, enforcement officers have to maneuver through wooded areas to confiscate the plants, a task that is sometimes easier said than done.

The attorney general's office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation work in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Department of Forestry, the Ohio National Guard and other various agencies, said Davey.

This year, these agencies found five booby traps, including one bomb, on various plots, he said.

"Often times, people look at marijuana and those who sell it as a lesser crime, but growers have a lot invested in their crops and sometimes will stop at nothing to see their crops on the market," he said.

King said, "Across the state, enforcement agencies have run into a hodgepodge of things, from holes in the ground with sticks in them to explosives to fishing wire hung with fishhooks at eye level."

Growing anything more than 20,000 grams of marijuana is a second-degree felony punishable by up to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine, according to the press release.

"Punishments for marijuana growing and possession are judged on a scale based on the amount possessed," said Jessica Vagleinti, public information officer for the attorney general's office.

People growing marijuana could face charges ranging from a second degree felony to a minor misdemeanor depending on how much marijuana is confiscated, she said.