POTHEADS FORCE FARMER TO DESTROY HEMP CROP

Unable to convince plundering potheads that his hemp crop didn't have the
same kick as it's cannabis cousin, a Vancouver Island farmer plowed the
crop under last week.

Even as Vern Mitchell destroyed 10 acres of the first commercial hemp
planted legally on the Island in 60 years Friday, two more youths where
arrested with a knapsack full.

They wouldn't have gotten high if they smoked the whole lot, but said they
didn't believe it and wanted to try it anyway.

The two where to be charged with theft, and although industrial hemp is a
non-narcotic cousin of marijuana, they will also be charged under the
Controlled Substance Acts with possession.

`It's still considered illegal unless you have a special licence,' said
acting Sgt. Dave Glancie of the Central Saanich police.

Mitchell will lose about $10,000 on the one million plants he destroyed.

But he said he couldn't put up with any more thefts, and estimates he's run
across about 100 groups of mostly youths wandering up to the field.

Farm workers could be putting themselves in danger trying to stop the
trespassers, Mitchell said.

`It kind of hurts to see it, but we had to make a decision and quick,' he
said as he watched the crop plowed under.

Police made about half a dozen arrests within the last month, including the
two people who tried to take about nine kilograms of hemp.

`The plan was that they would take the plants and in turn sell it to
unsuspecting youths as real marijuana and make some money,' Glancie said.

Hemp has only .03 per cent THC, the active ingredient that gets one high.
Regular marijuana is 15 to 40 per cent THC.

Other hemp crops on the Island have not seen the same theft problem as
Mitchell, said Brian Johnson, the Victoria businessman who led the push to
start the hemp industry.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski