POT STORY FULL OF POLICE PROPAGANDA

Sensational Stats For Ont. Growhouses Cannot Be Verified

On July 6 the Journal published a Canadian Press article authored by Colin
Perkel, its headline read; "Epidemic of Ont. marijuana growhouses." The
subhead was subjectively titled: "Criminals tap into power sources to avoid
detection."

It is generally accepted as common knowledge among Canada's pot culture
that when police showcase a grow-operation bust that the amounts of
material seized and the street value are grossly inflated to justify the
effort and expense required. Perkel obviously is either an extremely poor
journalist or another victim of the police/media propaganda machine or both.

Beside the damning adjectives and metaphors used to describe pot growers,
the statistics Perkel uses to validate his vitriol are absolutely absurd.

First, he states that growers in Ontario steal "upwards" of $500 million
per year. This is impossible. Second, Perkel continues to dig a grave for
his credibility by stating that the estimated number of growhouses in
Toronto area is 10,000, and that the average power cost per growhouse is
$2,000 per month.

All of these statistics would be sensational if they were not following the
equally ridiculous statement: "Police estimate a single hydroponic
growhouse can churn out plants worth a street value of more than $1 million
a year and much of it ends up in the United States."

According to this information that would mean Toronto produces "upwards" of
$10 billion a year. This, however, runs contradictory to the $4 billion
Perkel describes as the total value of Ontario's marijuana crop, a
statistic of dubious veracity and without a source to verify.

Without a means to verify the exact value of the marijuana trade like that
which exists for non-illicit drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, and
pharmaceuticals, we can hyperbolize, hypothesize or just plain lie.

Still I cannot read ill-prepared tripe such as Perkel's without grinding my
teeth.

A bit of advice to Canadian Press: the next time the need for a public
alert of the social cost of marijuana growing arises, send a pot smoker
because he knows what it costs.

James Kern,

Spruce Grove