MOULDY MYTHS

Cops Warn of Rampant Mould at Pot Ops but Public Health Says There's
No Fungus in Sight

Should a b-movie blob threaten the city, Toronto cops will have lots
of experience battling make-believe enemies. Fact is, menacing claims
last week by our finest that the grow ops busted at 2600 Jane were
rampant with mould may be plain untrue.

According to Dr. Howard Shapiro, Toronto Public Health's associate
medical officer of health, who inspected the building last Friday,
"We didn't find any visible evidence of mould in the common areas or
the units [used as grow ops]."

Police spokesperson Mark Pugash politely refutes the statement. "All
I can say is [the officers] did see mould in the rooms."

But genius ganja grower and Pot TV station manager Greg "Marijuana
Man" Williams has seen plenty of farming facilities, and he tells me,
"Mould doesn't happen unless it's under unusual circumstances. Yet
all the grow ops busted by police have mould."

He says overwatering and -misting and dramatic temperature changes
will create weed worries before mould ever appears. "The plants would
be dead," says Williams about the big North York haul. "They would
not survive. With amounts of mould as high as the police claim, those
plants would get mushy and die."

Health Canada licensed med grower Mik Mann, who offers farming
facility tours on Vancouver Island, explains: "With proper venting
there is little problem with mould on the walls. I have white plastic
on the walls and have zero mould on it or under it."

Sure, public health suggests mould might happen when mist hits the
paper coating on drywall, but Mann says, "If you have your fans
running [as you should], mist on the walls dries long before it
becomes a problem."

Of course, good airflow is critical for mould prevention in any home.
According to Mann, "Mould on the walls may indicate some other
problems with the home unrelated to an indoor garden."

Shapiro notes, "In general, you can have mould issues from a leaky
pipe or a flooded basement. You get mould in buildings that have
structural issues."

The bottom line is, with toking acceptable among most Canadians, cops
have had to manufacture public fear about living next door to the
greens. But someone battling mould would have poorly budding plants
and un-sellable product not the "very high-quality" buds valued at
$6.6 million that the police claim to have confiscated from the Jane
Street grows.

"They must have been really healthy plants to be worth that much,"
laughs Williams.