URBAN POPPY GROWER CONVICTED

Gurdev Samra's garden of opium poppies once offered him a euphoric cup
of tea, but on Monday, it made him the first person in Canada to be
convicted of growing the illicit plant.

Samra, 63, was handed a one-year conditional sentence after pleading
guilty to growing 1,200 opium poppy plants at his home on Eldorado
Close N.E., which was busted by police last July.

The judge took a dim view of the poppy garden, despite the fact
cultivation of the plants was for personal use in tea -- something
Samra had done since he was a youngster in India.

"Clearly, there is no place in Canadian society for growth of this
product," provincial court Judge William Cummings said. "It is
completely offensive to the community. . . . A loud message has to be
sent."

Indeed, a local expert on the the opium poppy said consuming the
plant's seeds is far different than something like the medicinal use
of marijuana.

"The idea of nipping these things in the bud is a good thing," said U
of C professor Peter Facchini, who recently received a $650,000 grant
for three years of research into the medicinal uses of opium poppy.

Opium is a narcotic formed from the resin released when the pods of
seeds are broken open. It's used to make pharmaceuticals such as morphine.

But it's also an illicit drug, most commonly used to make heroin, a
powerful and highly addictive drug.

Although there's no mistaking the swaths of opium poppies grown in
places like Afghanistan, many Canadians probably wouldn't know if they
had the plants growing in their own gardens -- let alone what to do
with the seeds from the flowers.

Samra did, though.

"Mr. Samra was using the product from the plants in his tea," his
lawyer, David Chow, told the judge.

"He has been in Canada for 16 years, the last seven in Calgary, but
this is something he has used since he was a youngster in India," Chow
said.

"It is very much a cultural byproduct of his previous
environment."

Nevertheless, the judge said although it was a unique set of
circumstances, the matter was serious.

Cummings placed Samra under house arrest for the first four months of
the sentence, then under a curfew for the last eight months.

He must submit to random searches of his person, vehicle and home, as
well as attend counselling for substance abuse, and abstain from
alcohol and drugs.

Samra also must perform 50 hours of community service "to convey the
message that these substances are not tolerated," added Cummings.

Samra did not make any comment when given the opportunity by the judge
before being sentenced.

A second charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking was
withdrawn following the guilty plea.

The university's Facchini -- who is authorized to study only 100
plants under strict conditions -- agreed that opium use is not
uncommon in parts of India, where it is legally grown.

He said there are likely others in Calgary doing the same as
Samra.

"There's no doubt there are (others). You have a culturally very
diverse country, and if you look into the popularity, or the use of
opium as a recreational drug, culturally in India it's very common.

"Maybe they aren't as maverick," said Facchini, referring to Samra's
growing of his opium garden in plain view of neighbours.

"This is a clear-cut situation . . . you have to be cautious about
plants like this.

"But we do have to be sensitive to the fact that, in other parts of
the world, people don't view plants like poppy, khat or even marijuana
the same way where it is used as a social thing, the same way we would
use coffee."