cannabisnews.com: Canadians Harvest More Marijuana Than Parsley!





Canadians Harvest More Marijuana Than Parsley!
Posted by FoM on May 28, 1999 at 13:26:06 PT
'Mindboggling' Marijuana Crop Tops 800 Tonnes!
Source: Ottawa Citizen
More marijuana was grown in Canada last year than parsley, with the criminal crop increasingly taking root in Ontario and Quebec. A new RCMP report on Canada's $18-billion illicit street-drug trade estimates at least 800 tonnes of marijuana was grown domestically last year. 
It's the first time the Mounties have made such a calculation and the results have surprised even them. (By comparison, 737 tonnes of parsley sprouted in Canada last year.) "This estimate appears overwhelming," says the report, and, in fact, drug investigators believe it's "quite conservative." Adds Leo Vaillant, one of the report's authors: "It's sort of mindboggling, but that appears to be what the situation is." The release of the report this week follows a call last month by the association representing Canada's police chiefs, and quickly backed by the RCMP, for the federal government to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The chiefs' new policy recommends giving police officers the option of ticketing people caught with 30 grams or less of marijuana, sparing them a criminal record. They argue the move, which stops short of legalizing the drug, could free up police resources to tackle more serious crimes. Yesterday, Mr. Vaillant stressed the marijuana (and other narcotics) estimates in the report are not a police attempt to exaggerate the problem. In fact, he said, police went out of their way to be conservative. "We didn't want to put a number out there (that would cause people) to say, 'here go the police again, they're going to try to spook us.' (With) all the figures, we're always using the lowest estimates." The marijuana estimate is based, in part, on the more than one million marijuana plants police seized across the country last year, up from about 690,000 in 1997. (A more efficient RCMP system of tracking cross-country seizures in 1998 accounts for part of that increase.) Still, police estimate 4.7 million plants were harvested, with each mature plant producing an average 170 grams of "marketable substance." And production is up, say police, because demand appears to be growing. After coffee, alcohol and tobacco and certain prescription drugs, cannabis is the most popular psychoactive substance in the nation, says the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. But after a decade of relatively stable usage rates, it says marijuana smoking is gaining in popularity again, especially among the young. Then there's the money to be made. In British Columbia, Canada's chief cannibis-growing region, a kilogram of potent, hydroponic marijuana - with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) strength of 15 to 20 per cent - is reported to be selling for more than $6,000 to middlemen. High-grade hydroponic marijuana represents only about 10 per cent the total amount grown in Canada, but hydroponic operations with more than 3,000 plants are not uncommon, says the report. The rest is organically grown, with THC values under 10 per cent, says Mr. Vaillant. So much potent B.C. weed is now suspected of being smuggled into the U.S. that the U.S. State Department this month cited it as one of the obstacles to a more open border with Canada. The profitability of the B.C. growing and smuggling operations has also caught the attention of eastern producers, notably in Ontario and Quebec. "Why should it be limited to (British Columbia)? People are realizing there's profits to be made by this type of cultivation and they're getting into it," says Mr. Vaillant, of the force's drug analysis unit. In the latest of dozens of busts by Ontario and Quebec police over the last couple of years, Quebec police this month swooped down on five residences and farm buildings in the Labelle area, about 60 kilometres north of Sainte-Agathe, and seized 7,250 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $7 million. And although it is still a developing market, the report says it's likely that marijuana is being smuggled into the United States across all land border points, including by organized crime groups in Quebec. Mr. Vaillant believes another reason for the boom are the sentences for people convicted of cultivating marijuana. "We have a bit lighter sentencing. It's quite severe in the United States, (where) the judge has no latitude to determine the sentence." Other highlights of the RCMP's 1998 drug report include: -At least 100 tonnes of hashish, 15 tonnes of cocaine and six tonnes of liquid hashish are smuggled into Canada annually. -One to two tonnes of heroin are required each year to meet the demand of Canadian heroin users. -Drug trafficking remains the principal source of revenue for most organized crime groups. In Canada, the drug trade has the potential to generate criminal proceeds in excess of $4 billion at the wholesale level and of $18 billion at the street level. -Italian-based organized crime is involved in upper-echelon importation and distribution of many types of narcotics. -Asian-based groups are active in heroin and, increasingly, cocaine trafficking at all levels. -Colombian-based traffickers still control much of the cocaine trade in eastern and central Canadian cities. -Outlaw motorcycle gangs play a major role in the importation and large-scale distribution of marijuana, cocaine and chemical drugs. The RCMP report is available on the force's website at: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/drugsituation.htm
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Comment #3 posted by hi from pennsylvania on February 18, 2001 at 11:08:03 PT:
is pot legal in bc 
just curious had read it was just checking?
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 28, 1999 at 20:50:47 PT
Green Grass and High Tides
Hello Dr. Ganj!Just doing a last minute check before I call it a day!Have a nice holiday weekend if I don't talk to you before! You give great advice!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #1 posted by Dr. Ganj on May 28, 1999 at 18:52:10 PT
Green Grass and High Tides
It sure seems rather obvious there's a mighty demand for this beneficial plant. And just as obvious, it's a lost cause trying to stop the flow of Canadian grown cannabis. Come on, let's get real. Legalize it, and let the police fight true crime.Growing marijuana is wonderful, and should be praised.Water those plants, and have a nice weekend.Dr. Ganj 
http://www.maps.org
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