GROW OP STUNT MOCKS POLICE PARANOIA POT FARMING ON THE RISE - RCMP

LAST SUMMER Steve Payne set up an illegal pot farm beside an airport just
to mock growers who suffer from "helicopter paranoia."

With endless forest to choose from, the 15-year veteran of marijuana
farming says he selected the spot across the highway from Quesnel Airport
to prove to outdoor growers how hard it is to get caught by police.

"You get used to helicopters. I'd be down in my patch waving at them,"
Payne says.

Laughing in the face of crime is how some illegal growers are living out
what could be the final years of criminalized marijuana in Canada.

While parliamentarians in Ottawa debate whether possession of pot should be
decriminalized, police complain they lack the resources to crack down on
producers.

RCMP in Quesnel say the number of local grow operations is on the rise.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I (busted) one grow op a week and not even
touch the number of grows in the area," says Constable Paul Collister.

"More and more we're seeing it. Over the last couple of years it's been a
growing trend. There are no resources for police to battle it," Collister says.

Last summer Payne raised 125 plants on private land he had rototilled.

When the property owner discovered the illegal operation midway through the
season, Payne tipped him off $800, he says.

But Payne only made $10,000 from the crop. A fungus ruined 95 per cent of
the bud, he says.

Still, he more than covered the cost of expenses, including eight
oscillating fans, 500 feet of garden hose, 700 feet of electrical wire, 500
seedling pots, 11 rolls of duct tape and gallons and gallons of propane.

Though the majority of grow operations are indoor, in the summer producers
head to the forest to save on electricity bills, Collister says.

Asked if police helicopters survey the forest for marijuana each summer,
Collister replied "probably."

Payne, who says he's not growing this year, points out that with a local
price of $3,200 a pound, marijuana is a lucrative business in the North.