P.E.I. POT IS NO SMALL POTATOES: BOSTON NEWSPAPER

Prince Edward Island's Anne isn't the only thing that's green,
according to a new article in a Boston alternative newspaper.

Writer Alan Earls claims "Pot Edward Island" is a haven for dope
growers and inexpensive electricity from Quebec fuels the island's
grow-ops.

Instead of the bucolic island of golf courses, white beaches and red
clay roads, Earl seemingly uncovers a rural backwoods full of
hopped-up criminals.

"Canada's most picturesque province is surprisingly also the fertile
center of an underground marijuana explosion," the article states.

Writing in the weekly Boston Phoenix, Earls maintains that beyond the
"Pollyanna disposition" of Anne of Green Gables, "it seems modern-day
islanders have discovered another way to smile through the summer and
avoid the blues during the bleak local winters."

To back up his contentious statement that P.E.I. is a pot-head's
hideaway, Earls cites a 2008 government survey showing nearly half the
province's high school and middle school students use drugs. He also
notes so far in 2008 the RCMP have seized 2,608 grams of marijuana,
almost double the amount in 2007.

As for those grow-ops fuelled with cheap power from Quebec, they're
apparently responsible for the 250 plants police so far seized this
year (up from 200 in 2007). The only problem is P.E.I. gets most of
its power from New Brunswick.

Neither Earls nor Boston Phoenix editor Lance Gould responded to
interview requests.

Denis Morin, an RCMP spokesman who was quoted in Earl's article, said
he was surprised by the writer's spin on the story.

"Two hundred plants in 2007? I would say it's quite minor in the scale
of things for P.E.I. and Canada," Morin said. "I'm sure in Boston,
they'd be glad to have a problem like this."

Island Tourism Minister Valerie Docherty said she's aware pot is
smoked on the island, "but little blips like that happen everywhere
and for somebody to take the time to actually write about it,
obviously, it was a slow day."

Earls' article ends on a high note, concluding: "One thing is clear:
P.E.I. pot is no longer small potatoes."