THE GREEN SEASON

Ideal weather, forestry layoffs and a crackdown on indoor
marijuna-growing operations may motivate more people to plant crops
deep within the woods of Vancouver Island this spring, say those
connected to B.C.'s pot industry.

The dry, warm weather the Island has seen over the past few weeks is
exactly what the sunshine-craving plants need to thrive, according to
Victoria's Ted Smith who teaches a free Hempology 101 course.

He's heard outdoor crops are increasing and "the plants are doing
pretty well already."

Smith also expects some laid-off loggers to plant and sell small crops
of pot to supplement their income because they're more familiar with
the Island's backcountry terrain.

Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to focus their efforts on indoor
grow-ops, which could force more pot-growers into the bushes. A study
commissioned by the City of Surrey this month showed an 80.9% drop in
residential grow-ops between 2004 and 2008, which was attributed to
the use of an initiative that allows cities direct access to B.C.
Hydro's residential electrical consumption data.

Adding to the outdoor growing trend, the woods have become less busy
over the past year, allowing would-be marijuana farmers to use access
roads and set up their crops with less of chance of being spotted.
Damage to the environment, however, could be significant.

Pot producers enjoyed a strong harvest last season after years of
dismal yields due to rainy weather that caused the plants to develop
mould, said Smith, who is also the founder of the Cannabis Buyer's
Club of Victoria, which provides pot to sick people.

"It was the first good year in several. And as I was saying last fall,
there will probably be more people planting next year because things
went pretty good in the end," he said.

While pot advocates agree that gangs have a presence in Vancouver
Island's backcountry-marijuana production, they say most people who
grow outdoors are doing it on a smaller scale to produce pot for
themselves to smoke or to make a few bucks now and then selling it to
friends and acquaintances. For many people, it's a culture they want
to maintain.

Smith said problems with growing pot, indoors or outdoors, only exist
because it's illegal, making the crop lucrative for gangs and forcing
people to take illegal measures to grow it.

Vancouver Island has traditionally produced more outdoor marijuana
than most parts of the province, yet the rainy weather is often a
hindrance, said Smith. The Okanagan has the best conditions for a
healthy crop.

Growing pot outdoors has a strong history on Vancouver Island, rooted
in the arrival of draft dodgers in the 1960s and '70s. In some ways,
that culture continues today.

"What sticks out more here is the combination of the tolerance and the
zeal for the herb, that isn't as vocal or open as it may be in places
like the Interior," said Smith.

Just 16% of police cases involving marijuana production in B.C. came
from outdoor grow-ops between 1997 and 2003, according to a 2005
report from the criminology department of the University College of
the Fraser Valley. However, on Vancouver Island 33% of pot production
cases in this period involved outdoor grow-ops, with only the Kootenay
region -- at 39% -- showing a higher proportion.

For 2003, the last year information was collected for the study,
Vancouver Island had the highest proportion of outdoor marijuana cases
in the province at 45%.

Smith said "a couple buddies with a pickup truck" are the most likely
people to plant hidden gardens of pot in the bushes. These people
would tend to about 25-50 plants at a time, versus the larger-scale
crops that appeal to organized crime.

Gangs don't often see outdoor crops as viable, he said, preferring the
far-more efficient indoor method.

Corp. Darren Lagan, with the Vancouver Island District RCMP,
disagrees. He said the majority of outdoor growing operations have
some link to gangs, even if it's a couple of people that received
funding from organization crime to grow pot.

He said that the amount of pot plants and the size of the crops RCMP
find get larger every year, with the average crop size being 200-300
plants.

"So generally, when you start looking at it that way you see there has
to be something bigger behind this than one or two guys," said Lagan,
who added that the increase of plants being seized could be due to
police gaining more experience at finding the crops.

Outdoor grow-ops don't present the same safety risks to the public as
indoor operations, which yield higher-quality and larger amounts of
marijuana in shorter periods of time, police say. But outdoor crops
can cause environmental damage as growers divert streams for
irrigation and leave trash and chemicals behind.

The soil can get contaminated easily said Lagan; chemicals used to
boost the plants' growth often seep into the ground.

Growers often look for areas that have been logged recently, with new
growth about 5-10 years old that can provide some cover, he said. This
means the producers will often wreck the tiny trees to make room for
their plants.

"The safety risks to the public aren't the same, there are new risks
to the environment. But more significantly, it is a source for
street-level trade and organized crime in general," he said.

Smith said that environmental damage only occurs on the "odd
occasion." Most people try to plant around streams or marshes to
provide irrigation so they don't have to visit the site all the time.

"The last thing you want is a path (to your crop)," he
said.

Nanaimo marijuana advocate Richard Payne, who has attempted to set up
a club to supply medical marijuana to sick people, said the damage and
crime created by growing operations are a result of the drug being
illegal. For example, last month police found a 600-plant marijuana
grow-op in a shed on Fifth Street, uncovered only after it caught fire.

Both Smith and Payne worry that with the passage of the federal
Conservative Party's Bill C-15, which creates tougher penalties for
drug offences, organized gangs will be the only ones willing to risk
tougher sentences to grow pot.

And then the "ma and pa" operations could be out for good, they
say.

Darryl Plecas, a criminology professor at the University of the Fraser
Valley, said that any increase in outdoor operations would likely be
linked to authorities cracking down on indoor grow-ops using new
techniques. He said police have typically focused on B.C.'s indoor
marijuana crop in recent years.

But both indoor and outdoor grow-ops are increasing in B.C. due to
rising organized crime, said Plecas. The number of "ma and pa"
operations have likely decreased over the years as gangs moved in.
"Rumour has it even those people are being pressured to get out of the
business," he said.

The RCMP seized about 23,000 marijuana plants on Vancouver Island last
summer, up 2,000 from the year before. In 2006, 16,500 plants were
seized. Whether the plant is grown indoors or outdoors, profits
benefit organized gangs, according to the police.

Island RCMP have a single helicopter based out of Comox that flies
almost every day during the summer, transporting officers or
performing other tasks. While in the air, one officer acts as the
'spotter' looking for marijuana.