THE GRANDFATHER OF ALL GROW-OPS

89-Year-Old Busted For Growing Pot For Salmon Arm's Senior Tokers

At the age of 89, and quite likely the oldest Canadian to be convicted
of growing pot, Herman Nathe thinks he has learned a valuable lesson
from his foray into the drug trade.

The Salmon Arm senior now knows to keep quiet -- especially when
somebody's hearing aid is turned up.

"Someone ratted me out," he said wistfully Friday, still reeling from
the $4,000 he was recently fined after pleading guilty to a charge of
production of a controlled substance.

His geriatric grow-op in the basement of his home that sits on
two-thirds of an acre just outside the town of Salmon Arm was shut
down by the local RCMP on July 11, 2002.

While initial reports indicated he had 400 plants, Nathe maintains he
only had 200 plants ready for the area's toking seniors.

RCMP also found he had rigged up a hydro bypass, and he was found to
have a number of unregistered guns.

By the time he got to court last month, Nathe's dope debacle had left
him with the type of papers he didn't want, including a court order to
make monthly payments of $150.

The Crown agreed to stay the trafficking, firearms and theft of hydro
charges.

As part of the court agreement, Nathe also agreed to pay B.C. Hydro
$1,500, the amount that was estimated to have been used in cultivating
his cash crop.

A lifelong gardener, Nathe cringes when he recalls the big THC-laced
buds his two months of hard work produced. "I had a nice crop," says
Nathe.

The Geritol gardener has a hunch whose dentures were clacking to the
authorities, but won't say.

And just who gave him the clones needed to start up the grow-op is
something Nathe will also take to his grave.

"I met some friends," is all he'll say about the plants.

How he managed to reroute the power in the hydro bypass is something
he will talk about.

"The hydro bypass, I did it myself," he says.

"I used to do electrical work, so it wasn't too difficult."

Even though it was his first grow-op, Nathe was sharp enough to know a
sudden high use of power on his hydro bill would be a tell-tale sign
that he was growing more than just daffodils.

"I figured it was a giveaway if they looked at your hydro bill," he
points out.

Despite a lifetime of farming, logging and work in the mines in
Alberta and B.C., Nathe found himself tight for cash a few years ago
when an investment into a speculative mining equipment venture went
belly up and he lost about $100,000.

"That's what attracted me to it, the quick cash," he says of the
illegal operation.

"I assumed there was some money to be made."

Nathe's lawyer, Paul Danyliu, thinks his client probably is the oldest
person in the country to be convicted on pot-growing charges.

"Has anyone in their '90s been popped?" he asks.

"He's a very colourful, unique individual," said Danyliu.

"He didn't believe it was something that was harming
mankind."

Growing high-grade pot is not for amateurs, and Danyliu said Nathe did
his homework before producing the pot.

"He used the real technical manuals to produce the marijuana. It would
have been real nice pot."

Nathe, who calls himself "an organic gardener," also feels pot may be
the answer for people of his vintage who are in pain.

"I think people would be better off if doctors put them on the
marijuana instead of other drugs," says Nathe.

As for some of the seniors he knows around town, his conviction won't
bar him from lawn bowling or the dances.

"My friends all laughed -- they got a kick out of it," he says.

"Only one person tried to give me a bad time."