HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: text/html
Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2005 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Roberto Rocha Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) POT INDUSTRY WAS AN OPEN SECRET Bedford Abuzz; Local Residents Worry About Farms, Families Of Those Arrested In Raids At every restaurant table, on every barstool, in every checkout line in Bedford, there was only one topic anyone could talk about. "We're very surprised," said Gilles Paidif, a window cleaner. "Actually, we were all waiting for it to happen," suggested Matthieu Larocque, who works at the local Toro dealership. "It was just a matter of time." Everyone knew or knew of the 11 local farmers arrested on Wednesday during a massive marijuana bust involving three police forces in two countries. And everyone seemed to know that what many farmers reaped was not always destined for the grain silos. But news travels quickly in this rural town 70 kilometres southeast of Montreal, so locals were wary of giving their names to journalists. "Everybody knows each other here. We don't want anything coming back to get us," said one such man, flipping through three newspapers with reports of the arrests. Of the few who did talk, only a couple expressed relief at the raid that seized more than 5,500 marijuana plants and ended a major smuggling ring. Most were quick to defend the farmers who face extradition to the United States. "What will happen to their families? Now they're left without their fathers," said Milene Pelletier, a waitress at one of Bedford's two bars. "I mean, what they did was wrong. But it wasn't as bad as everyone is making it seem." In every depanneur, the newspapers were sold out by 8:30 a.m., a store clerk said. With every report that said the smuggling ringleaders intimidated local farmers into handing over plots of land to the marijuana growers, men and women scoffed in disbelief. "It's all exaggerated. They're not the Hells Angels, they're not Al-Qa'ida," said one bar customer, enjoying an afternoon beer. "This is just a nice big story to sell papers." Steve Potvin, who went to school with several of the farmers' children, was more worried about what will happen to the farms seized by the police. "Who will take care of the hay, the corn, and the feed now? If they live off the land, they will lose money," Potvin said. His friend was more enthusiastic in his defence of the arrested men. "These guys buy brand new vehicles every year. They shop and shop and put money into the community," he fumed. "The government should thank them for all the taxes they paid, not arrest them." In the neighbouring town of Pike River is a John Deere tractor dealership that caters to farmers. Jasmin Cote, a salesperson there, had heard things from the farmers that would counter their apologists. "At least one of them threatened the other farmers to let him use their fields for marijuana," Cote said. "They didn't really have a choice." As for the economic fallout from the loss of 11 faithful customers, Cote did not seem worried. "We have many other clients. I don't think it will make a big difference," he said. The mayor of Bedford was out of town and municipal officials declined to comment on the arrests. But when pressed, a city employee pointed to a column in yesterday's La Presse, one that sneered at the police assertion the pot growers were "terrorizing" local farmers. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin