TAKE THE HIGH ROAD AND TELL THE OPP

Innocent Growers Face No Penalty For Pot Plots

PRESCOTT - The corn is as high as a moose's eye and you're rollng along on
your tractor, not a care in the world, when suddenly you come across a
completely different crop that you know you didn't plant, but someone has
obviously taken a lot of care to cultivate.

Chances are that someone has taken it upon himself to liberate a small plot
of your land to cultivate a crop of marijuana, hoping to harvest the
notorious weed before you get around to bringing in your corn.

That's what happened last month to a Grenville County farmer who found a
neatly marked plot while combining his corn. He did exactly what he should
have done - he called the police.

Senior Constable Mike Ostrander, communications officer at the Prescott
branch of the Ontario Provincial Police, says illegal marijuana plantations
are a recurring problem across Ontario, though it is difficult to gauge
just how widespread the problem is.

'For every illegal crop we find, there are probably several more out there
that we haven't detected,' Ostander said. 'Province-wide it is not a major
problem, but it is a regular occurence on a small scale. I suspect that
there isn't an OPP branch in Ontario that doesn't have an occurrence from
time to time.'

Marijuana growers often choose a corn field to hide their contraband crop,
ripping out the corn and planting marijuana in the midst of a field when
the corn is about a foot high to serve as a camouflage for the illegal plants.

'We recommend that farmers get in the habit of taking a walk through their
corn fields two or three times a month, particularly in June and July, to
make sure that a small part of their field hasn't been planted with
marijuana,' Ostander said.

'If they do find some, farmers should not cut it down themselves, but give
us a call immediately,' he said. 'We would like them to feel comfortable
with calling us if they find even a few plants.' Farmers have no liability
provided they report their find in a timely manner.

The OPP also advises farmers to be on the lookout for strange vehicles
parked in the vicinity of their fields which may be there because someone
is pulling out their corn to plant marijuana. If they see anything
suspicious, farmers are encouraged to call the OPP.

When a marijuana plot is reported, the OPP goes out and cuts down the
plants, then gets permission from the narcotics division of the RCMP to
destroy it. The RCMP has a say in determining if any charges should be laid.