Thousands of plants, hundreds of thousands of dollars

Six men were charged Friday with multiple illegal commercial marijuana grows in Kent, Montcalm and Newaygo counties.

A Montcalm County prosecutor said the alleged criminal enterprise involved exchanging hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash between here and New York, but a defense attorney argued that marijuana is legal in Michigan and questioned the heavy-handed multi-jurisdictional law enforcement response, comparing the situation to a liquor license or a tobacco license violation.