MAN ARRESTED IN GROW-OP SEARCH

Waverley Home May Be Owned by Medical Marijuana Advocate

An RCMP drug bust may have netted a marijuana advocate in Nova
Scotia.

The Mounties said they arrested a 62-year-old man on Wednesday during
a search of a Waverley home, where they found a "sophisticated
marijuana grow operation."

The home, at 82 Rolling Hills Dr., is listed on Nova Scotia's Property
Online website as being owned by a David Lloyd Dunphy. That's also the
name of a man who has previously advocated for the use of medical
marijuana, but it wasn't clear whether they are the same person.

No officials, including the RCMP spokesman who sent the news release
about the search, could be reached Friday to confirm the identity of
the arrested man.

A business website lists a David Dunphy as the manager of the Green
Wonder Hydroponics store in Dartmouth. When the Wyse Road store was
contacted Friday, Mr. Dunphy was not on duty, a staffer said.

Meanwhile, the RCMP officers said the grow operation they discovered
at the Rolling Hills Drive home consisted of three rooms, with one
used for harvesting marijuana.

Another room was used for growing 17 mother marijuana plants for
cloning, while the third was used to grow more than 200 cloned plants,
the release said.

The man arrested in the search will appear in Dartmouth provincial
court on July 29. He was released from custody.

Back in May 2000, a David Dunphy was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as
saying he was bidding to be Canada's official medical marijuana
supplier. At that time he was identified as being from Green Wonder
Gardening Inc. of Dartmouth.

He also said he had some experience growing "weed" in British
Columbia. At the time, he was growing cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes.

It wasn't clear Friday whether he had been successful in becoming an
official medical marijuana supplier.

Wednesday's search at the Rolling Hills Drive address was conducted by
the RCMP marijuana grow unit, along with members from the RCMP
synthetic drug section and Lower Sackville Mounties.

Federal laws regarding designated marijuana producers were recently
changed, allowing growers to produce enough of the drug for two users,
according to an article in Cannabis Culture Magazine. Before the
change, growers were allowed only enough marijuana for one user.

Medical marijuana supporters have decried the small increase in
growing limits, calling it a "slap in the face," the magazine quoted
an advocate as saying.