HOME GROWERS BELONG IN MINES

Reefer Madness 2003. Our government can't grow dope. It should come as no
surprise that our esteemed federal government has proven itself incompetent
yet again; otherwise we would already be able to buy a pack of B.C. Bud at
the corner store. Appropriately taxed, of course. Why else would the
government be getting into the dope-growing business? I don't believe that
it is merely to supply a handful of people with medical marijuana.

The April 21 Record states a five-year, $5.75-million contract to grow
government marijuana has so far failed to deliver the promised yield of
high-quantity THC (marijuana's active ingredient). For some reason beyond
the grasp of normal man they are attempting to produce a strain with a THC
content of 25 per cent, the average street dope being five to 10 per cent.
They can't even grow any acceptable low-quantity THC placebo marijuana. The
project has managed to produce 318 kilograms so far. That works out to
$18,000 per kilogram. In the right season you can buy a kilo here in
Cambridge for about $3,000 to $4,000. That is dried, bagged and delivered.

Our government has developed a top-secret underground home-grow operation
in an abandoned mine in Manitoba. This is so no one can see the high-tech
grow equipment that they use to grow their super dope.

At the same time, more than 20,000 Canadians are arrested each year for
simple possession. More than 600, 000 Canadians have a criminal record for
it. Policing and prosecuting marijuana users costs $300 million to $500
million per year, with 70 per cent for simple possession. A recent poll
shows that more than 50 per cent of Canadians under 50 have smoked it at on
time or another. Yet our elected officials have stalled on any kind of
legalization or decriminalization for years.

It seems to me that we are never going to see legal pot until our
government figures out how to supply it. I agree that home-grow operations
are a menace to the community and do not provide an answer, but the people
want their pot! With this in mind, I have several suggestions to help
expedite the process:

Sentence the home growers to a few months in the "Marijuana Mines." These
people are experts at high-volume picking, clipping, weighing and bagging.
It has never made sense to me to sentence a home-grow operator to house
arrest. That would be like sentencing a bank robber to do his time in the
bank vault. We could even have a new sentencing system. Convicted felons
would be sentenced to a specified number of pounds, ensuring a high yield.

Give the Church of the Universe a new home. Brothers Walter Tucker and
Michael Baldasaro have long been trying to find a place to settle down.
What better place for these two marijuana worshippers than Flin Flon, Man.?
I'm sure they could raise the potency levels to heavenly heights.

Hire Ricky, Bubbles and Julian. If those lads from the cult hit Trailer
Park Boys can grow a crop in a trailer they should be able to work wonders
with the yield if they have an entire mine system to work with.

The most logical choice would be to legalize it and let everyone have a
plant or two in their yard. Of course, that will never happen unless they
figure out a way to tax fresh air and sunshine.

Scot Ferguson-Barber

Cambridge