The article is accompanied by a photo of grow equipment; Caption reads "Not just a few backyard plants. The equipment seized from this grow operation is estimated to have a $20,000 to $30,000 value.
(Marijuananews note: If all of the below were true it would just be more evidence of the counterproductive nature of marijuana prohibition and why marijuana should be legalized, but mostly it is self-evidently nonsense, so it is worthwhile to analyze as propaganda. The Mounties are mostly mounting propaganda campaigns these days.

Another part of the party line is that there are now tens of thousands of growers in northwest Canada, which may be true, but it is inconsistent with the message of this story. However, if you multiply, $20,000 times 20,000 growers, you will get the average potency of the BC Bud, or something like that.)

According to Sechelt RCMP Staff Sgt. Linton Robinson, the three to four "substantial grows a month" they are catching are sophisticated operations which RCMP believe are backed by organized crime, "with strong connotations of the Hell’s Angel’s biker gang, as well as other organized crime rings."

He recounts one grow operation which had a child’s bedroom with a grow-room on either side. "That child would have been sucking in so many fumes, it’s not funny," Robinson said, adding the hazardous pesticides and fertilizers would also have contaminated the entire house.
(Marijuananews note: Really? Neither pesticides nor fertilizers used in indoor gardening necessarily give off any kind of fumes. The quantity used in a house would not be a health threat. People work in large commercial greenhouses around the world and do not have health problems. Does he expect us to believe that they have crop-dusters flying around the house? Information on this is available from perfectly legal sources.)

"Typically, organizers (such as Hell’s Angel’s or other financial backers) find people who will assume all the risk, all the work of growing for them, in exhange for the equipment and a few cloned plants. The lure is that the grower reeives a guaranteed income whether the crop succeeds or not. When the plants mature, the orgnizers just collect the mature plants and leave, until the next crop."

Most of the grow operations are done in rented houses which usually "causes a lot of damage. A lot of innocent landlords discover $25,000 to $30,000 damage to their house, which insurance won’t cover." To set up a grow, a room is completely sealed off, dry-walling over the windows and sliding doors. "But they keep the glass window on the outside, complete with curtains, so it’s hard to spot." Robinson says the carpeting is ripped up, the room is gutted, and even the wiring is redone to accomodate higher wattage. The room must have a fresh intake as well as ventilation for the stale air and fumes to escape. The scent, Robinson says, is distinctive, and is one of the few ways of spotting a grow-op. The humidity destroys the drywall and wood, molding the room and floors.

Linton says these grow operations can produce three to four crops a year, each containing 100 to 200 plants.

(Marijuananews note: Above it was reported that they no longer bother with operations this size. Maybe the reporter suffers from short-term memory loss.)

The marijuana residue on the seized equipment is so thick, the RCMP members handling it use latex gloves to prevent the sticky resin from absorbing into their skin.

(Marijuananews note: And if you believe that, you should be a reporter! First, what is the marijuana residue? There should not be any large amount of resin on lights. Secondly, even if there were, THC cannot be absorbed through the skin. Third, it is non-toxic, unlike tobacco residue which can be absorbed through the skin in fatal amounts.

This is really grotesque. All of it seems designed to make an indoor garden sound like a meth lab. Run for your life! That bud is going to explode!)

As an example of the sophisticated technology used in these operations, and the evidence that organized crime is supporting it, Robinson shows a cache of confiscated grow-equipment.

"These bulbs are worth about $300 each," Sechelt RCMP Staff Sgt. Linton Robinson said, adding there are several in the cache. The bulbs are fat, with two chambers, the inner chamber a high-wattage light bulb, and the outer chamber which holds water to keep the bulb from over-heating and scorching the plants.

"It’s a very complex system of lighting and fans rotating on tracks to simulate natural ultra-violet light. If you look closely at the bulbs, you can see how some have thin bulbs inside, and some are thicker. They progressively change the lighting as the plant matures," Robinson says.

The equipment used for the typical marijuana grow operations ring up at a whopping $20,000 to $30,000, very sophisticated and much too expensive for the persons actually using it.

(Marijuananews note: First, notice how the large grow has now become "typical" -- even though we have just been told that "the 100 to 200 marijuana grows are so commonplace" that they don’t bother with them. If you are confused, it is only because you are paying attention.

Second, anyone can buy these lights and grow books that will tell how to set up one of these operations. That does not make them "sophisticated." It just gives them an expensive hobby.

Third, it is the knowledge and love of the plant that makes a person a successful grower, not their equipment.)

Robinson says landlords should be aware their house could easily be used for a grow operation.