Pubdate: Fri,  3 Aug 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: JOHN COTTER, Canadian Press

ROCK GOES UNDERGROUND TO ADMIRE FIRST POT GARDEN

FLIN FLON, MAN. -- Like a proud farmer admiring a bumper crop, Health 
Minister Allan Rock was all smiles yesterday as he went deep underground to 
tour Canada's only legal marijuana-growing operation.

Wearing blue coveralls and a miner's helmet, Rock and his entourage boarded 
a vehicle that slowly snaked down through the dark silence of an old 
copper-mine shaft to a bustling hydroponic lab carved out of the rock 
hundreds of metres below the surface.

There, under tight security and the blinding glare of powerful grow lights, 
a forest of vibrant green plants burst from containers, filling the chamber 
with a musky sweetness.

"It's an incredible experience to see this operation," Mr. Rock said as he 
watched expert growers wearing white sterile suits gingerly handle the 
plants that will provide the roots of Canada's new medicinal-marijuana 
policy. "It's obvious that we have good growth. I'm quite impressed."

During a brief ceremony, employees unveiled a sign that named the grow 
operation the Rock Garden, in the minister's honour.

After returning to the surface, Mr. Rock cut a gold ribbon at the entrance 
of the mine tunnel as he stood beside an RCMP officer in full dress 
uniform. "Let's open this mine and get the plants to patients as soon as we 
can," Mr. Rock said.

Within weeks, technicians at the site 650 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg 
will begin harvesting the bedrock buds for tests to determine their potency 
and other chemical properties.

After clinical trials, the marijuana will be made available as early as 
February to the terminally ill and people suffering from serious diseases 
who want to use it as a pain reliever -- if they qualify.

The medicinal-marijuana policy, which came into effect on Monday, allows 
people who have been granted an exemption from narcotics laws to possess 
pot and grow it or have someone grow it for them. Fewer than 300 people 
have been approved but there are 500 applications pending.

Critics claim the exemptions are too restrictive, that the mine won't 
produce enough pot to meet demand and that the pot won't be strong enough 
to deaden the pain of people suffering from AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Others say the operation, run under contract by Prairie Plant Systems of 
Saskatoon, is a $5.7-million absurdity, when most Canadians can easily buy 
pot in their own communities.

Mr. Rock said that when a government launches a groundbreaking policy, 
there are bound to be problems. "I don't pretend they are perfect. We can 
adapt and adjust these regulations to overcome problems that arise."

The mine has generated international headlines and has prompted some groups 
to hold Canada's policy up as an example that other governments should follow.

In the United States, where an offender can be jailed for as much as a year 
for possession of a joint and five years for growing a plant, the 
pro-marijuana lobby groups praised Ottawa.

Flin Flon's residents don't know what to make of all the attention their 
community of 7,000 is receiving.

For 75 years their fortunes have been dictated by the fluctuating price of 
ore processed by the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co.

Mayor Dennis Ballard said that so far the marijuana mine has created only 
about a dozen jobs and most of the profits will flow out of the area. But 
he is convinced that could change.

But some long-time Flin Flon residents scoff at the idea that there is much 
of a future in underground marijuana growing.

Gordon Wells and his pal Rod Rutherford chuckled over their coffee at 
Johnny's Confectionery when asked if the pot mine will help Flin Flon. 
"It's just a big fuss over nothing," Mr. Wells said. "Everybody just laughs 
about it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom