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Show Hotline made to combat drugs in national forests Tip has developed forest service posters, brochures, bumper stickers, calling cards and telephone stick-on messages which can be picked up at a local forest service office. One brochure explains the visible signs of possible drug activity and the do's and don'ts after detection. Also available at forest service offices is a new video titled, "Kitchens of Death,' which depicts the hazards associated with manufacturing illicit drugs. The byproducts, by-products, toxic vapors and explosive ex-plosive conditions all pose a very real hazard to the public and law enforcement en-forcement officers. Both the We-Tip We-Tip materials and the video would be useful information for civic organizations, schools and other agencies. Mac Thomson, law enforcement officer for the intermountain region of the forest service said. "National forests are becoming increasingly popular for growing and harvesting marijuana. With high-grade Sinsemilla marijuana selling for as much as $2,000 per pound, illegal operations are growing. ' Thomson also said that "public lands are appealing for these operations opera-tions because of their isolation and limited public access which lessen the likelihood of detection." Please help, but remember that drug producers are very possessive of their plants or labs and often take steps that would endanger citizens if they try to investigate on their own. Leave the investigating to a law enforcement agency. "A phone call makes you a drug fighter,"said Stan Tixier, regional forester of the intermountain region of the Forest Service. "That's a simple thing to do to keep illegal drug activities from encroaching on the National Forest areas where you camp, fish, hunt, bike and picnic." Since Mueller Park is a national forest area, Davis County residents should do all they can to help. The threat is real. In 1989, nearly 429,000 cultivated marijuana plants were destroyed on 4,108 sites on national forest areas across the nation. "We need the eyes and ears of all users and visitors in discovering discover-ing and reporting marijuana gardens and illegal drug laboratories on the national forests." To make reporting easy, the Forest Service has a national contract con-tract with an organization called We-Tip. Here's how it works: On the receiving end of the We-Tip toll-free telephone number (800-78-CRIME) are 38 professional operators on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to take anonymous tips from the public regarding drug-related drug-related activities on national forests. Calls to We-Tip are then referred to the appropriate region, forest, or state agency for verification and investigation. in-vestigation. When We-Tip operators answer the hotline, they advise callers not to give their names which assures that no one knows where the tip came from, not We-Tip, not the police and not the criminal. We-Tip callers have total anonymity. To enlist the public's help, We- |