ROLLING OUT HIS FIRST JOINT

A new joint promoting the giggling weed is blossoming on one of
Delhi's main drags in an effort to plant the seed of education about
medical marijuana.

Over the last handful of days, Norfolk grower Rick West and his crew
with his business Highly Recommended Plus have been busy tending to a
King Street store that is being transformed into an information
centre. Once the small storefront is renovated, it will be a safe
place for doctors and interested residents to chalk up on their weed wisdom.

The storefront will also sell marijuana seed and glass paraphernalia
for smoking, such as pipes and bongs, pending a vendor's permit.
However, it will also serve as home to West's clients who seek both
advice on obtaining an authorization to obtain medical marijuana and
even purchasing their medical marijuana from him. He charges a
slightly more reasonable $2 per gram compared to $5 a gram from Health Canada.

West holds a producer's licence that allows him to maintain 98
marijuana plants. As a sufferer of both a connective tissue disorder
and arthritis, he also has authorization to utilize 20 grams of pot
per day -- a high quantity compared to the prescribed three to five
grams per day that is the average for the most patients.

West has also played a hand in transforming the rural landscape. The
makeshift cannabis consultant has taught local clients how to grow
their own weed, helped local farmers in obtaining their own
producer's licences and even rented out empty greenhouses to perfect
his own hybrid of marijuana. Recently, West has partnered with Brian
Julian, of the advocacy Medical Miracles Group, to establish a
franchise operation in Wainfleet. He now has his eye set on
developing a research facility locally.

"This area has been called the marijuana belt for so long," he said,
as he used a spice grinder to whittle down his marijuana to roll up a joint.

In fact, West is proud in his transformation from a guerrilla grower
- -- a grassroots producer who plants his marijuana hidden in between
other crops -- into a legitimate businessman. With several criminal
convictions for growing pot illegally under his marijuana-decorated
belt, he doesn't want to see fellow growers follow down the same path.

"It's worked out because I've been able to turn illegal growers into
legal growers," he explained.

He has also served as an advocate for medical marijuana clients.
Already in his sparse storefront, local residents have stuck their
heads in to inquire about medical marijuana.

Sitting perched under his hand painted banner that proclaims, "Highly
Recommended Plus 420," a local resident stops by to ask West if he
can help him obtain his authorization for medical marijuana. This
resident has been stuck on the addictive Oxycotin after surgeries to
fix his wrists in pain from carpal tunnel syndrome.

"Just sitting here, that's how many people have come in," West said,
waving his hand over the flap of a folder marked with names.

He expects to have 1,000 clients by the fall. Some are elderly,
searching for a way to battle the pain of arthritis, and some are as
young as 10 years old, hunting for an alternative to controlling ADHD
other than Ritalin. In fact, West says the parents of the latter
client mix his medical marijuana into the childhood snacks of peanut
butter and cookies.

West advises his clients to actually drink or eat their high rather
than smoke it. He pulls out a baggie of rich spiced pepper -a variety
that is perfect for tea -for a quick sniff .

While some residents may be alarmed by the open invitation for
marijuana blossom in the community's front yard, West hasn't heard
any flack yet.

However, he admits there are a lot of people who dislike his business
but simply do not understand what is his purpose.

Highly Recommended Plus is a nonprofi t organization, he explained,
and he prides himself in providing low cost pot for medical users. In
fact, he would one day like to hand out his crop for free.

"The public needs to understand it's just not a bunch of potheads,
we're educated people," he added.