GROW OP NO WAY TO COPE WITH ECONOMY

Kamloops - He hoped to pay the mortgage, but a laid-off forest
worker's decision to grow dope cost the man his house, his girlfriend
and eight months of freedom.

Kyle Henry, 29, pleaded guilty in provincial court Friday to
cultivating marijuana. He was charged after his Dallas home, which he
had purchased with his girlfriend, was raided by police in June 2008.

Officers found 444 plants in a clean, well-maintained basement grow
op. The drugs would have been worth $166,000 had they reached
maturity and been harvested.

Defence lawyer Jack Harris told the court this case should serve as
an example of how much marijuana can cost when things go wrong.

The man only got involved in this enterprise after he lost his job
and friends told him how lucrative growing marijuana could be, Harris said.

The decision instead cost him everything.

Harris said Henry's girlfriend left him and wants nothing to do with
him, believing greed and laziness drove his actions. The house was
labelled a marijuana grow after the bust, meaning he could not live
in it until he completed specific reconstructive work that cost him
nearly $30,000. He was forced to sell the house to pay the debts, but
lost money on the transaction.

"He comes out of this with nothing. Not a cent. It was all to try to
keep things afloat while he was unemployed. He regrets it tremendously.

"He lost everything he had."

Harris asked the court to impose a conditional sentence instead of
jail, saying Henry has already paid a great price. He also had no
criminal record.

Judge Dev Dley said that might be the case, but Henry's cavalier
attitude towards drugs and his desire to profit from them caused him
his troubles.

A message needs to be sent, Dley said, as he sentenced the man to
eight months in jail.