Inhofe’s office requests $4M to combat illicit pot growers

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe’s office is requesting $4 million in federal funds to help combat illegal Oklahoma marijuana growing operations.

Inhofe’s chief of staff, Luke Holland, announced the request on Wednesday during an Oklahoma Sheriffs Association meeting and says the Republican senator has requested a direct appropriation through the U.S. Justice Department. He says the money would allow the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics to establish a unit to combat “transnational and national drug organizations.”

Sheriffs and other law enforcement groups say illegal marijuana growers are setting up in rural parts of Oklahoma and funneling cannabis into the illegal drug trade.