CANNABIS CULTIVATORS

Most people wouldn't willingly file their income taxes under the
category of "marijuana grower," but Eric Nash and his wife Wendy
Little aren't most people. The Vancouver Island residents are bona
fide organic pot producers, legally selling their product to Health
Canada-approved patients who use cannabis to ease medical discomfort.
Not the most ordinary of occupations for a small-town web designer
and a teacher.

The pair didn't originally plan on becoming one of B.C.'s premier
cannabis producers, but when one of Little's relatives fell ill in
2001 they researched the medicinal benefits of the drug and decided
they wanted to help.

"We are definitely forging our own path," says Nash from his
Vancouver Island home, the exact location of which he keeps secret.
"We declare all our income on our cannabis, we pay taxes on our
cannabis, so yeah, it's quite innovative."

Government regulations restrict Island Harvest to a production of 45
plants, but it previously grew up to 90, when the policy was more
flexible. From an initial investment of $3,000, the duo have mastered
the art of growing the plant with no major setbacks, and since 2002
have sold approximately $30,000 to $40,000 worth of pot. It costs
them $1.29 a gram to propagate their seeds, which they sell directly
to patients for $3.50 to $4.00 a gram. The cannabis is packaged at an
off-site growing operation and is mailed to recipients directly
through Canada Post's marijuana shipping program. Their competition
is the federal government, which grows its own marijuana at the Flin
Flon Mine in Manitoba; a handful of compassion clubs; and other
private growers across the country. Nash says a high user-to-producer
ratio means there is more than enough room for everyone involved to
make a living, especially if the -government relaxes its growing limitations.

Nash says Island Harvest follows the same business principles as any
other company. "We adhere to high crop production standards and
provide a good quality product to people that, from a consumer
perspective, works well for their specific condition," he says.
"Basically it's all about providing the consumer with a clean organic
product that works well for their medical -condition."