Pubdate: Fri, 19 Sep 2008
Source: Tillsonburg News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/290NTnRP
Website: http://tillsonburgnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2388
Author: Jeff Helsdon

OXFORD POLICE FOIL POT GROWERS

Oxford Community Police put a dent in the illegal  marijuana crop this
week.

Officers removed about 180 plants from a Milldale Road  corn field on
Wednesday afternoon. The marijuana was  planted among corn stalks
topping eight feet in height.  A mature marijuana plant can have a
street value of up  to $1,000.

Before the afternoon was out, they had removed 400  plants in various
locations.

Officers zeroed in on GPS co-ordinates of suspected  marijuana
plantations supplied from aerial support as  part of a joint
eradication operation with the Royal  Canadian Mounted Police. The
operation has been going  on a month, and has been active in Oxford
the last two  weeks. About 1,700 plants have been found in the county 
during that time.

Const. Greg Fletcher said the people responsible for  planting the
marijuana would likely never be found.

"If we were to sit and wait for them to harvest it . .  . ," he said
arrests would be possible, but said it's a  manpower issue.

Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland pointed out marijuana  should not be
considered harmless.

"There's a percentage of the population that treat this  as a soft
drug. It's absolutely not a soft drug," she  said. "Any crack addict,
cocaine or heroin or ecstasy  user started with weed. You don't
suddenly start  shooting heroin in your arm."

Police have also been finding marijuana laced with  crack or
methylamphetamine.

"The addictive properties are different than 20 years  ago," Maitland
added.

For the farmer, who didn't wish to be identified, the  marijuana being
planted in his crop cost him more than  $500 in lost revenue. The area
taken by the plants  would have produced about $200 worth of corn
plants.  Corn knocked down by police to access the marijuana  caused
close to $500 in damage.

Although this is the first time this farmer has had  marijuana planted
in his fields, he said he hears of it  happening to someone he knows
every year. If farmers  are harvesting early corn for silage, they
find  marijuana still standing. When corn is harvested later  for the
kernels, farmers will typically find an empty  spot in their fields.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin