cannabisnews.com: Reputation of Canadian Province Goes To Pot





Reputation of Canadian Province Goes To Pot
Posted by FoM on April 03, 2000 at 17:14:18 PT
Manitoba's Marijuana -- known as Wheel Chair Weed
Source: ABCNews 
The Canadian province of Manitoba, where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, has enhanced its farming reputation by growing some of the best marijuana in North America. Drug enforcement officials in the United States said Monday that the province was growing such potent marijuana that recreational users of the drug were asking for it by name.
"Manitoba is a brand that people ask for as far south as Florida," Brent Eaton, spokesman for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, told Reuters from Miami. "We do grow some pretty good-quality stuff," said Corporal Bob Ross of the Winnipeg drug section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A drug-producing reputation is perhaps at odds with a province that greets visitors with the words "Friendly Manitoba" on license plates, and where locals pride themselves on being hard-working, church-going and law-abiding citizens. News of Manitoba's marijuana -- reportedly known as "wheelchair weed" for its strong disabling effect -- came less than a month after a study showed the province of 1.1 million people had the highest number of problem gamblers per capita in Canada. Ross said police in Manitoba seized some 20,000 plants in 1999 and 23,000 in 1998 -- the bulk of them grown in indoor hydroponic operations, which allow for careful tending and production of high levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Although the cultivation and use of marijuana is illegal in Canada and most of the United States, use of the drug is widespread in North America and the rest of the world. Eaton said North American hydroponic marijuana is of such high quality that it has muscled foreign marijuana from traditional sources such as Mexico and Jamaica out of the market. Statistics Canada said cannabis offenses account for the majority of drug offenses in the country, although lobbying efforts to legalize the drug are ongoing. Ross said Manitoba pot was probably being exported, since the province's population is too small to consume the crops domestically. "There's no doubt it's a very lucrative business," he said, adding that each plant is worth about C$1,000 ($690).  Eaton said the pot is moved south by mail, courier companies or people traveling from Manitoba, which borders the U.S. state of North Dakota. But Ross said Manitoba, where there are regular seizures of marijuana-growing operations, still lagged other provinces for sheer volume of the crops. "Ontario and Quebec and British Columbia are booting our butts," he said, adding that Manitoba police had turned more of their attention to putting a stop to pot-growing in the province in the past few years. Winnipeg (Reuters) Wire: April 3, 2000 04/03/2000Copyright ©2000 ABC News Internet Ventures. Related Articles:High-Grade Manitoba MJ Takes Over U.S. Drug Markethttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5263.shtmlTime To Legalize Pothttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5261.shtmlCannabisNews Articles on Canada & Manitoba:http://ussc.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+Manitobahttp://ussc.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/search?type=all&query=cannabisnews+canada 
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Comment #5 posted by r.earing on April 04, 2000 at 10:29:39 PT:
oh puhlease!
As a Canadian,I feel qualified to speak.Manitoba weed is given to weaklings who can't or won't play hockey.It is the favored smoke of soccer moms and tax accountants.Light one up and put on those Up With People albums!One of the big selling points is the fashionable "Hunter green" color of the finished product,which Martha Stewart advises,"easy to coordinate with classic or country decor,organic manitoba bud,it's a good thing."
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Comment #4 posted by emma on April 04, 2000 at 05:24:16 PT:
You legalise it,I'll advertise it!
I think that it is disgusting that people are even using the word Marijuana in the same sentence as Heroin.Heroin is a class A drug that destroys many lives,because of it's addictiveness and therefore has harmful affects on the body.A large variety of people refer to marijuana as a harmless recreational drug that is used in safe comfortable environments as a part of everyday life (ie,like lighting up a cigarette).And i think that it is terrible that a person can be put in jail for smoking it,in the privacy of their own homes.Whether it be for medicinal purposes or just to get stoned! 
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Comment #3 posted by Symmetric on April 03, 2000 at 23:11:28 PT:
Canadian vs. US Media
Does anyone else think that the canadian media is a bit more sympathetic to our cause than the us media?Manitoba, the top spot for potBy BRIAN GRAY -- Toronto SunMove over Mexico and Colombia -- Canadian-grown marijuana is top-grade weed, man. A U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman says Manitoba has become the source for premium pot south of the border. And the province is also known by law enforcers in both countries to export more hydroponically grown dope than it imports. Manitoba's pot popularity comes from high levels of THC -- the active ingredient that provides the high. Winnipeg Police say the THC levels can reach 15% to 20% because growers can control every detail -- from the hours of light to the temperature and nutrient levels -- because it is grown indoors. In contrast, pot grown outdoors in Mexico, South America and the Caribbean only reaches THC levels of 3% to 7%. "People around (the U.S.) buy Canadian," The DEA's Bret Eaton said from Miami. "If somebody's taken a liking to Manitoban, that's what they'll get." Meanwhile, Manitoba's superior stuff is equalled by Ontario growers, according to Corey Johnson of the Toronto Hemp Co. on Yonge St. "I would say they aren't the only ones (reaching the high THC levels)," he said, adding 13% is often the low end for Ontario indoor-grown pot. Marijuana activist Marc Emery, who sells seeds from his Vancouver-based business, said the court system's increased leniency toward marijuana-related charges has spurred an increase in the number of people willing to grow the illegal product for personal use -- a number he estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 in Manitoba alone. B.C. has effectively decriminalized use of marijuana by not charging people for possession.
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Comment #2 posted by Freedom on April 03, 2000 at 22:17:18 PT
They are busy.
This collaboration between the RCMP and the U.S. DEA is most obvious, and annoying. Now, we have Manitoba Weed, to go with B.C. Bud.I wonder if Manitoba Weed can be traded pound-for-pound for cocaine? I am sure the new and improved DEA-trained RCMP propaganda department will let us all know, soon enough.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on April 03, 2000 at 20:22:22 PT
News Story ... or Ad or What ?
Manitoba . . ."the best marijuana in North America""such potent marijuana...recreational users...asking for it by name"DEA: "Manitoba is a brand that people ask for"RCMP: "good-quality stuff""Manitoba's marijuana ... `wheelchair weed' ... strong disabling effect""of such high quality" . . .When the press, US DEA, and Mounties all sing the praise of "Manitoba's marijuana" it makes you wonder. Kinda reminds me of something I read once about the movie "Reefer Madness", how, it was supposedly done at two simultaneous levels: one to encourage marijuana use, the other, paradoxically, to drum up sentiment against its use (and thus for more government control over people).``... to both encourage marijuana use and promote anti-marijuana use and promote anti-marijuana legislation. . . . The stated intent of Reefer Madness "was to stamp out the menace of marijuana because it leads to "acts of shocking violence, ending often in incurable insanity." In contrast, young people are shown having a good time smoking marijuana, partying, dancing, kissing and retreating to the bedroom. By showing young people having a good time smoking marijuana, Reefer Madness encourages young people to at least try it. By confusing marijuana with heroin and by telling the story of normal kids going berserk because of marijuana, "Reefer Madness" scares older people into demanding that something be done. Why are there conflicting messages in the movie? . . .''-- Hypnosis and "Reefer Madness", in Mind Control in America by Steve Jacobson http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=113
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