Pubdate: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 Source: Kincardine Independent, The (CN ON) Section: Editor's Notebook Copyright: 2005 The Kincardine Independent Contact: http://www.independent.on.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2428 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) BRUCE COUNTY'S MEDIA CAPITAL Toronto is the media capital of Canada; Kincardine is fast becoming the media capital of Bruce County. With two newspapers, a magazine, and cable TV in town, and Wingham radio and television in the area, Kincardine is already crawling with salespeople and reporters. By the end of the year, there will be two new radio stations serving the lakeshore. Even the Huffers and Puffers hockey league has its own magazine. With so many radio and television reporters in town, maybe we'll soon be getting play-by-play accounts of quilting bees, council meetings, police dragnets, slo-pitch games, euchre league action. Picture it. Well, maybe not. Marijuana grow-operations are not only dangerous, they're giving skunks a bad name. If you live in an urban area, there is a grow-op within a 10-minute walk of your house. The story on CBC Radio Monday morning also said the grow-ops give off a skunky smell. Maybe that's not a skunk in your neighbourhood at all. The marijuana grow-ops can lead to fires and they are often run by organized crime. Marijuana, by the way, can drive you around the bend. Smoking the stuff doubles your risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, say New Zealand researchers. Their study suggested this was probably because of chemical changes in the brain which resulted from smoking the drug. The study, published in the journal Addiction, followed more than 1,000 people born in 1977 for 25 years. Doesn't sound like smoking the stuff is good for the mind.