BUMPER OUTDOOR POT CROP PREDICTED FOR ISLAND GROWERS

Weather Conditions Good As Harvest Nears

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

Some growers have already harvested their pot plants, often hidden
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 if current weather holds for the
next few 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, Smith said.

"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," Smith said.

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

"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 public safety
risks, O'Brien said, outdoor operations aren't any safer. Unsuspecting
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. The "common guy" who
grows pot on the Island would usually have just 20-30 plants.

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