Alva Review-Courier -

LUMBER BRIDGE, N.C. (AP) — If someone were to wander across Al Averitt's farm, past a corn field on the left and rows of red-flowered crape myrtles on the right, that person might be tempted to call 911.

Or he might be tempted to steal.

In tidy rows across 3 acres in northern Robeson County, Averitt has hundreds of cannabis plants. One every six feet. The plants are growing through sheets of white plastic that keeps down weeds, and their roots receive precise amounts of water and fertilizer from an underground irrigation system.

The plants look just like marijuana, with long, narrow leaves tha...