GROWERS EXPECT BUMPER POT CROP

RCMP See Increase In Outdoor Plots

After a couple years of dismal outdoor marijuana harvests due to rainy
weather, Vancouver Island could see a bumper crop of bud this fall.

Some growers have already harvested their pot plants, often hidden
away in secret gardens deep in the woods, but the optimal time to
harvest marijuana is normally the first week of October, said Ted
Smith, who teaches a free course about hemp and Cannabis -- called
Hempology 101 -- at the University of Victoria. He thinks that if
current weather holds for the next couple weeks, this season will mark
the start of the crop's recovery on the Island.

Vancouver Island's mild climate often provides ideal conditions for
growing marijuana, but the past two years have been hit with rainy
summers and little sunlight, which can cause plants to rot. This has
led to more people growing pot indoors, instead of going through the
hassle of tending to an outdoor crop concealed within a forest, said
Smith.

"There haven't been a lot of new people getting into (growing pot
outdoors). There might be more next year, with this year kind of
recovering," said Smith.

In the Nanaimo area, police have noticed more outdoor
marijuana-growing operations this year compared to previous years,
said Const. Gary O'Brien. In July, police busted an 800-plant outdoor
growing operation in the Bowser area.

"It was quite a significant year for outdoor grows," he said. "Weather
was a factor this year."

Although indoor operations can lead to fires and other hazards, said
O'Brien, outdoor operations aren't any safer. Hikers can stumble onto
booby-traps left by growers to protect their crops, he said.

But Nanaimo marijuana advocate Richard Payne said organized gangs are
usually the only ones who go to such lengths to protect massive crops.
The "common guy" who grows pot on the Island would usually have just
20-30 plants hidden in the bush.

"All around this time you'll have different people who are
harvesting," said Payne, who is trying to set up a marijuana-buyers
club for sick people in Nanaimo. "It think it's probably been a pretty
good season so far."

Both Smith and Payne said people who grow marijuana outdoors worry
more about animals munching on their plants or thieves finding them
than police confiscating the pot.

"Far more plants are stolen every year by thieves than police actually
get. The bush in general is seeing a lot more people out and about,"
said Smith.

"It's a really stressful thing, growing, at times because you're
always worried about who's going to rip you off," said Payne.

Although it has its challenges, Smith said people will never stop
growing marijuana in the forests of Vancouver Island.

"Outdoor is always going to have its fans. It's easy, you don't need
to be paying rent and deal with a whole bunch of other factors."