LAWRENCE, Kan. ÷ Having trouble finding pot?

Some students say they are.

One student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she was having a difficult time finding a hook-up for pot, and what she did find was too expensive.

"I went from being able to find an ounce whenever I wanted it to having to beg for a quarter- (ounce)," she said.

Another student, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said he had to seek out different sellers each time he made a purchase and no connection had been consistent for months.

"Me and my roommate buy about a half-ounce every week," he said. "But we've been getting it from different people every time because no one has a steady dealer."

Such complaints from illegal-drug users are exactly what law enforcement officials love to hear. Officials said the decline in availability gave some indication that drug law enforcement was working and would continue to work in the future.

"We've had a lot of success, especially over in Douglas County," said Jeff Brandau, special agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. "We've had arrests of some of the older growers who it seemed had been doing it a long time."

Brandau is also the head of Kansas' Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program, or Erad, which was initiated in 1979, with all 50 states participating by 1985. The program involves a partnership between the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kansas Highway Patrol and KBI. Erad is funded by the DEA and focuses solely on the domestic indoor and outdoor growth of marijuana.

Brandau said, although no government agency knows exactly how much pot was grown, sold or transported in the United States, Erad was having an impact÷ at least in the sense that it has encouraged Kansas growers to pursue different tactics.

Brandau said 10 years ago, marijuana fields tended to be large, making them easier to locate. But now, more operations have been moved indoors, while outdoor growth is now done on smaller plots of land.