POT CONSPIRACY NETS HOUSE ARREST

A cohort of former Marijuana Party candidate Michael Patriquen is now under
house arrest for a joint pot-growing operation.

James Stewart McCurdy helped cultivate about 500 marijuana plants in what
the Crown calls a "sophisticated" growing operation fuelled by greed.

McCurdy pleaded guilty in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to conspiring to
possess marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Three related counts
against him were dismissed.

McCurdy, 41 also pleaded guilty March 8 and was fined $550 for stealing
power and unsafe storage of a firearm. Both charges stem from the same scheme.

Yesterday, Justice Felix Cacchione gave him an 18-month conditional
sentence for the conspiracy charge.

Police used wiretaps to track down three illegal growing sites.

Officers charged McCurdy on Feb. 28, 2000, a day after Patriquen told him
they would split future proceeds 50-50.

They found 170 plants at McCurdy's Rawdon home in Hants County, as well as
a drying room and a couple of shotguns.

Two other men involved in the operation received about two years each in
prison.

Cacchione said jail time for McCurdy wasn't necessary to deter others, as
he poses no danger to society and has turned his life around. McCurdy, who
works as a framer, says he stopped smoking pot about 18 months ago.

Patriquen ran unsuccessfully for the Marijuana Party in Nova Scotia in the
2000 federal election.

He pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge as McCurdy and will be
sentenced in August.