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Kentucky Marijuana Strike Force
Active
1990-present
Country
United States
Agency
Office of the Governor of Kentucky
Kentucky State Police
Type
multi-agency law enforcement task force
Role
Law enforcement
marijuana eradication
Operations jurisdiction
Federal
Kentucky
Headquarters
Frankfort, Kentucky
The Kentucky Marijuana Strike Force, also known as the Kentucky Governor's Marijuana Strike/Task Force, is a multi-agency law enforcement task force managed by the Office of the Governor of Kentucky and Kentucky State Police Marijuana Suppression Branch, and composed of local, state and federal agencies organized expressly to eradicate illegal cannabis cultivation and trafficking in Kentucky.[1] The task force was established in 1990, to combat marijuana cultivation on public lands in Kentucky that ranks third in the United States, behind California and Tennessee.[2][3] An estimated $1 billion worth of marijuana is seized in Kentucky annually.[4][5]
In the wake of the 1989 arrest of the Cornbread Mafia by the Western Kentucky OCDETF,[6] the task force was created in July 1990 by executive order from then Kentucky Governor Wallace Wilkinson.[7] with the backing of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.[8]
Member agencies include the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, Kentucky State Police, Kentucky National Guard, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, Office of the Attorney General of Kentucky, National Park Service, Civil Air Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, US Forest Service, US Marshalls Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky and local sheriff and police departments.[9][10] The strike force often uses helicopters to fly eradication teams into remote marijuana grow sites in Eastern Kentucky.[11][12]
Much of the enforcement efforts of the Kentucky Marijuana Strike Force, that occur during the eradication season that lasts from April to October,[13][14] are concentrated in the area of the Daniel Boone National Forest, in the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky historically associated with moonshine production, which often ranks first for most marijuana plants eradicated from a national forest in the United States.[15] The eradication effort in the Daniel Boone National Forest showed the most impacts when just 17,000 plants were eradicated from the forest in 2009, compared to the 250,000 plants seized the year before.[16]
^"Statewide Inventory of Criminal Justice Organization/Groups" (PDF). Kentucky Criminal Justice Counsel. March 2002. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"National Drug Threat Assessment 2005 - Executive Summary". National Drug Intelligence Center. February 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"Marijuana and Methamphetamine Trafficking on Federal Lands Threat Assessment". National Drug Intelligence Center. February 2005. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Eric Horng and Karson Yiu (November 6, 2009). "The Bluegrass State's No. 1 Cash Crop: Dope". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"Domestic Cannabis Cultivation Assessment 2009". National Drug Intelligence Center. July 2009. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"Federal officials say arrest of 68 breaks marijuana syndicate". Evansville Press. Associated Press. June 7, 1989. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"Strike Force is Still Battling Marijuana". Dawson Springs Progress. September 6, 1990. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Robert Kaiser (August 29, 1990). "U.S. anti-drug chief praises program". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"1988 and 1989 Marijuana Annual Report" (PDF). Kentucky State Police. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Poore, Jason (July 7, 2011). "Ideal State Level Marijuana Investigation & Eradication Program Design" (PDF). University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Whitehead, Shelly (July 1, 2000). "Pot Patrol - Rural War on Drugs". Kentucky Post. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Hatton, Angela (August 27, 2009). "The Marijuana Belt: Part 1". WKMS. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Langston, Carter (September 1993). "Up in Smoke". The On Guard. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^Dubusmann, Bernd (June 30, 1991). "Residents of Appalachia Make the Transition From Moonshine to Pot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
^"Authorities push pot growers out of Daniel Boone National Forest". Kingsport Times News. Associated Press. November 26, 2009. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
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