BUDDING PROBLEM - CALGARY POT GROWERS COPIED IN U.S.

Californian cops know the most potent pot on their local drug scene comes
from the basements of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

And they knew it had to happen.

Growers down there are starting to emulate the experts in Calgary's drug
underworld, by trying to grow their marijuana indoors in hydroponic grow
operations, hoping to match the Calgary perfection.

Which is where Calgary city police drug unit officers, Det. Pat Tetley, 46,
and Det. Steve Walton , 42, are about to make a difference.

They'll soon be travelling to Los Angeles to give presentations to a seminar
of 5,000 law enforcement officers on how to detect and bust up indoor
hydroponic pot operations.

In the past four years , Tetley and Walton have been attending the
California Narcotic Officers Association training institute -- which has
been a brain-storming think-tank for drug enforcement officers for more than
30 years.

Previously, the pair were learning from the experts.

Now, they're returning as experts to teach others.

"Historically, California had to deal with outdoor marijuana growing
operations, but now they're being inundated with indoor operations," said
Walton.

Crooks are going indoors because the cops are hitting their outdoor grows
too hard.

"They asked us to take our expertise down to them," said Walton.

Calgary's home-grown pot has turned up as far south as Arizona, where it's
so potent, traffickers in the U.S. will trade 1 lb. of Calgary bud marijuana
for 1 lb. of cocaine.

Tetley, a 23-year veteran, and Walton, a 21-year veteran, will spend a week
teaching law officers how to bust the indoor pot growing operations.