B.C. POT'S HIGH POTENCY IS KEY TO POPULARITY

What makes's B.C. pot so good that Americans will pay up to $6,000.00 US a
pound for it?

The secret is in its potency. Since the 1980's, cultivators have used
cross-breeding techniques to produce new strains with a high content of
tetrahydrocannabinol.

THC, concentrated in the buds of the female plant, is the active ingredient
that gives users a "high".

The top-priced buds are taken from plants grown indoors, where their
environment is closely controlled. They are raised in sophisticated
hydroponic nurseries whee water, heat, light, nutrients and carbon dioxide
are scientifically measured.

Under these conditions, the plants reach their maximum potency and yield.

Twenty years ago, the maximum THC found in outdoor cultivated pot plants
was around 0.5 percent. RCMP say the marijuana now being grown in B.C. can
contain as much as 30 percent THC.

Cuttings, or clones, taken from high-THC varieties provide growers with a
perpetual supply of new plants.

The new marijuana is highly addictive." says Sgt. Chuck

Doucette of the RCMP Drug Awareness Unit. "The experts are seeing a rapid
increase in behavioral problems among users. There are acts of aggression,
leading to assaults and even murders."

Not all experts agree on the precise effects of higher THC levels.

Dr. Doug Coleman, a New Westminster consultant on addiction, says arguments
about THC content are "hooey."

The real issue, he says, is not the potency of the marijuana but how much
you smoke.

Checked-by: Richard Lake