POT GAME'S NO BUST

VICTORIA -- Harreson Waymen and John Taylor have drawn up a smokin' game.

After hearing a ream of Vancouver Island pot-growing stories, the men came
up with a board game satirizing the operations.

"It's the Monopoly of the '90s," said Waymen, who got the idea after
listening to the funny foibles of pot growers in Sooke, a quirky little
town 40 km west of Victoria.

For example, did you hear the one about how the deer ate all the pot plants
and passed out in the yard?

"Not even a 2x4 prodding Bambi got her to move," said Waymen with a chuckle.

Players start out with some plants, cash and a little plastic car to make
their way around the island to set up grow operations, dodging police
helicopters, bunnies and hikers along the way.

Whoever ends up with the most marijuana wins The Cultivation Game. Despite
the laughs, Waymen says he and his partner are not promoting or glamorizing
marijuana.

"We just want to present the reality of that side of life," he said. "This
is not something where you just drop the seeds hither and yon and make lots
of money."

As for the legality of a game based in an illegal product, Taylor says,
"the only thing we're guilty of is making fun of marijuana." They've sold
1,000 copies of the game in hydroponic and hemp stores in B.C., Toronto,
Ottawa, Calgary, Hawaii and Seattle.

Copyright (c) 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.