Pubdate: Tue, 03 May 2005
Source: Bowling Green Daily News (KY)
Copyright: 2005 News Publishing LLC
Contact:  http://www.bgdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1218
Author: Hayli Morrison
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POLICE SEE MORE POTENT STRAIN OF POT

Canadian Import Found Growing In Logan County

A highly potent form of marijuana originating in British Columbia and
gradually making its way into America in recent years appeared in
southcentral Kentucky late last month.

South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force agents discovered 34 growing
plants of the substance, commonly called "B.C. Bud," in Logan County.

The drug contains 15- to 25-percent concentrate of
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the primary intoxicant in
marijuana. The organically grown marijuana plants of the 1970s only
had a 2-percent THC content, according to a 2000 report from the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration.

B.C. Bud poses new challenges for officers because the plants are more
difficult to detect and have a shorter growing season, according to
Jim DeVasher, director of the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force.

"The marijuana growers can plant it in crops of farmers and get it out
before the (other) crops are harvested, and it also makes it more
difficult for us to detect from the air," DeVasher said.

He added that this was the first he's seen of the drug in Logan
County. It has not yet been detected in Warren County, according to
Tommy Loving, director of the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task
Force.

"We haven't seen any in Warren County yet, but if it's in Logan
County, I'm sure it won't be long," Loving said. "I've been in some
conferences where the royal Canadian police have briefed us on it. Add
another challenge on our big plates, which are already full."

B.C. Bud differs from its more prevalent predecessor in that it has
three leaves instead of five, a twiglike stalk and looks like a shrub,
DeVasher said. The most obvious difference is the increased THC
concentrate, which nets a greater street value.

According to the DEA, a crop of 50 B.C. Bud plants at 15-percent
potency, harvested and sold three times, can yield $179,000.

Although the drug is just beginning to be detected in southcentral
Kentucky, it has long been creeping gradually into the United States,
starting along the Canadian border.

There, it has been sneaked across the line in backpacks and - in one
extreme case - a Canadian military vehicle, according to the DEA. That
August 2000 incident resulted in the arrests of two Canadian nationals
and the seizure of 240 pounds of B.C. Bud.

The drug has also been found in large quantities in New York City,
Atlanta and Adairsville, Ga., DEA said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin