News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Upper Cumberland has one of the higher yields of marijuana seizures compared to the rest of the state.
Tommy Farmer oversees the state’s Dangerous Drug Task Force. Farmer said the region is a significant area where they find more plants and plots.
“Some regions have potential or historical higher yields than others,” Farmer said. “The Upper Cumberland Region is definitely a region that generally produces a significant amount of illegal drugs.”
However, Farmer said the main way marijuana finds it way to Tennessee is from trafficking. Farmer said other states legalizing the drug has increased the amount in the state.
“We are seeing a tremendous amount of cannabis in various forms,” Farmer said. “Whether it is a dry, leafy plant material, oil, butter intended for foods or vape products that are coming into the state. In that form, how they come into the state is not just about growing. It can be transported in, and that transportation may occur by pedestrian or passenger vehicle or commercial carrier.”
Farmer said in 2019, over 30,000 plants and 100 pounds of processed marijuana were seized. That was a decrease from 2018, but Farmer said the trend will not continue with 2020 numbers ramping up.
“Depending on which region, we did have an increase from 2019 to 2020,” Farmer said. “We did go up in the number of plant counts, as well as the number of plots.”
Farmer said the task force makes regular visits to the Upper Cumberland.
