Agri-Food Canada, Challenges Claim of RMCP seed bust in Montreal. - OG/ Cannabisworld Refugees - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

Captain Skunk · 03-13-2006, 09:37 AM

Seems there may be some disagreement on how much marijuana RC could be charged with.

"Julie Plamondon, media relations officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, had the final word, and unfortunately for our beloved Mounties it puts their claim of 42 million joints in serious doubt, challenging their credibility."

The entire story below!

https://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=8585

March 9th, 2006
Marijuana investigation

Seeds of doubt
Charlie McKenzie, Senior Agricultural Correspondent

Forget Jesus and the loaves and fish, look what the Mounties can do with a bag of pot seeds

Following a 14-month investigation, RCMP officers recently uncovered a Montreal organization selling marijuana seeds via the Internet. Trumpeting their latest victory against "the scourge of marijuana" - their term - the Mounties claim that the amount of seeds seized would fill 500 greenhouses with 400 plants, representing 42 million joints on the street.
That seems comparable to the infamous "angels on the head of a pin" query that has forever plagued scholars and barflies alike. Even with all the CSI toys and tools at their disposal, how could the Mounties possibly calculate the number of joints in a bag of seeds?

Marijuana being an unregulated industry, there's no such thing as a standard-sized joint. Size differs in various regions for various reasons, not the least of which are availability, quality of paper and, of course, level of individual joint-rolling skills.

Vancouver's super-seed salesman Marc Emery - currently fighting extradition to the U.S. where he faces a life sentence for selling marijuana seeds to needy Americans - half a gram is the standard joint in Western Canada. "A lot, though," he added, "depends on the quality."

Eastern Canadians are surprisingly more conservative. "Here they run about a third of a gram," said Montreal's Marc Boris St-Maurice, founder and former leader of the federal Marijuana Party, now with NORML Canada.

"But that," he noted, "can fluctuate according to circumstance."

Scientists and horticulturalists agree, in a manner of speaking...

"The
RCMP's yield prediction was probably based on average yields for a typical marijuana plant," explained David Wees, horticulturalist and faculty lecturer at McGill's Macdonald campus, but he questions the accuracy of their method. "It's possible the seed won't germinate, in which case the yield is zero; or the seed germinates but the plant dies; or the seed germinates and grows 'normally' but because of factors such as heat, light, water or soil fertility, the yield is lower - or higher - than expected."

His colleague, Dr. Suha Jabaji-Harem, Associate Dean of Research for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, readily concurred.

"It would be extremely difficult," he said. "The age, health and storage conditions of the seeds would have to be considered, and for maximum yield, growing conditions have to be perfect so the plant is not under stress."

Being illegal probably qualifies as being under stress, and - despite being one of our largest agro-industries - lack of regulation confines cannabis cultivation to somewhat substandard conditions. But when asked if one could really tell how much a single seed would yield, research scientist Daniel C.W. Brown, of London, Ontario's Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, was very clear:

"Yes and no," he said.

"Generally, a larger seed is an indication of a better developed, more mature seed which should have stronger growth potential. But many factors could impact on the yield of the plant, e.g., genetic potential, nutrition, environment, disease and pest resistance, water availability, etc."

Julie Plamondon, media relations officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, had the final word, and unfortunately for our beloved Mounties it puts their claim of 42 million joints in serious doubt, challenging their credibility.

"No," she stated emphatically. "It is not possible to determine plant yield simply by examining seeds, either by the naked eye or with a microscope."

She did, however, thank us for our interest in agriculture. End story:

Hey Julie, Want to help us overgrow the planet?

03-13-2006, 08:51 PM

top notch article. I thought the exact same thing when I heard the $42mil joint thing.

It's just for glamour....

hgl · 03-13-2006, 09:22 PM

naga_sadu · 03-14-2006, 12:11 PM

The police often blow up numerical values to boost their own image and further their own agenda (more central govt. money). It's good to hear that there are groups which are there to cross question such ludicrous claims made by police.

I just hope that they establish some sort of a citizens charter which will maintain a permanent check on monetary claims made by law enforcement.

radium- · 03-14-2006, 04:15 PM

Did anyone consider the fact the half of those seeds are probably males anyway???

Stoner133 · 03-14-2006, 08:08 PM

Stoner's predictions.

200K seeds should result in 100k females.

If the typical plant produces 100g, the total yield would be 100k X 100g= 10,000,000g

If the typical joint consists of 0.33g, the total would be 30,000,000 joints or one for every person in the country.

Seems to me, LEO is using a similar calculation with pinners.

medicaluser420 · 03-14-2006, 08:41 PM

Sure it is bullshit it would be impossible to tell the yield cause everbody grows different some vegg for longer with less plants other plant more and with shorter vegg and get around the same yields so it is impossible. Not to mention all the people who are first time buyer and might never get the seed to sprout or get it to grow. even if they do sprout and they lack experience the plant might not yield much of anything.Even if they were all grown some are not big yielders, stictly quality even under the best of conditions all the plants would yield different amounts of dry weight due to different strains and phenotypes,genotypes.There are way too many factors to caculate. They probably weighed the biggest plant with stem,leaves and water still in it and times it by the number of seeds they had.

Verite · 03-14-2006, 11:30 PM

Silly police, thats what happens when you use an abacus made from doughnuts.

Blunt_69 · 03-14-2006, 11:45 PM

Thats just freakin hilarious. 42million joints........Geezus.

Apply that same theory to any crop.

Does a wheat farmer yeild the same amount each time he lays seed down??? NO

man the mounties make themselves look stupid with those types of numbers.

Postman Pot · 03-15-2006, 12:23 AM

std practise in the UK to publicise drug busts using the highest mathematical sum they can muster, i.e 1Kg of ganja to the cops is 1000*5 (5 = price of 1g) = £5000 worth of ganja, they calculate by using the smallest deal @ the highest price to maximise the PR. We know & they know prohibition has failed but the anti-drugs sector is a booming business these days for all sorts of people, today i read about a senior welsh copper calling for a rethink on drugs strategy only to be put down by some anti drug campaigner who had no alternative but was convinced prohibition was working, perhaps to keep him in a job......

03-13-2006, 09:37 AM	#1
Captain Skunk Guerilla Grower Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Germinating seeds and rooting cuts @ 42.N Posts: 452	Agri-Food Canada, Challenges Claim of RMCP seed bust in Montreal. Seems there may be some disagreement on how much marijuana RC could be charged with. "Julie Plamondon, media relations officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, had the final word, and unfortunately for our beloved Mounties it puts their claim of 42 million joints in serious doubt, challenging their credibility." The entire story below! https://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=8585 March 9th, 2006 Marijuana investigation Seeds of doubt Charlie McKenzie, Senior Agricultural Correspondent Forget Jesus and the loaves and fish, look what the Mounties can do with a bag of pot seeds Following a 14-month investigation, RCMP officers recently uncovered a Montreal organization selling marijuana seeds via the Internet. Trumpeting their latest victory against "the scourge of marijuana" - their term - the Mounties claim that the amount of seeds seized would fill 500 greenhouses with 400 plants, representing 42 million joints on the street. That seems comparable to the infamous "angels on the head of a pin" query that has forever plagued scholars and barflies alike. Even with all the CSI toys and tools at their disposal, how could the Mounties possibly calculate the number of joints in a bag of seeds? Marijuana being an unregulated industry, there's no such thing as a standard-sized joint. Size differs in various regions for various reasons, not the least of which are availability, quality of paper and, of course, level of individual joint-rolling skills. Vancouver's super-seed salesman Marc Emery - currently fighting extradition to the U.S. where he faces a life sentence for selling marijuana seeds to needy Americans - half a gram is the standard joint in Western Canada. "A lot, though," he added, "depends on the quality." Eastern Canadians are surprisingly more conservative. "Here they run about a third of a gram," said Montreal's Marc Boris St-Maurice, founder and former leader of the federal Marijuana Party, now with NORML Canada. "But that," he noted, "can fluctuate according to circumstance." Scientists and horticulturalists agree, in a manner of speaking... "The RCMP's yield prediction was probably based on average yields for a typical marijuana plant," explained David Wees, horticulturalist and faculty lecturer at McGill's Macdonald campus, but he questions the accuracy of their method. "It's possible the seed won't germinate, in which case the yield is zero; or the seed germinates but the plant dies; or the seed germinates and grows 'normally' but because of factors such as heat, light, water or soil fertility, the yield is lower - or higher - than expected." His colleague, Dr. Suha Jabaji-Harem, Associate Dean of Research for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, readily concurred. "It would be extremely difficult," he said. "The age, health and storage conditions of the seeds would have to be considered, and for maximum yield, growing conditions have to be perfect so the plant is not under stress." Being illegal probably qualifies as being under stress, and - despite being one of our largest agro-industries - lack of regulation confines cannabis cultivation to somewhat substandard conditions. But when asked if one could really tell how much a single seed would yield, research scientist Daniel C.W. Brown, of London, Ontario's Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, was very clear: "Yes and no," he said. "Generally, a larger seed is an indication of a better developed, more mature seed which should have stronger growth potential. But many factors could impact on the yield of the plant, e.g., genetic potential, nutrition, environment, disease and pest resistance, water availability, etc." Julie Plamondon, media relations officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, had the final word, and unfortunately for our beloved Mounties it puts their claim of 42 million joints in serious doubt, challenging their credibility. "No," she stated emphatically. "It is not possible to determine plant yield simply by examining seeds, either by the naked eye or with a microscope." She did, however, thank us for our interest in agriculture. End story: Hey Julie, Want to help us overgrow the planet? __________________ Captain Skunks Outdoor Adventure 2006

03-14-2006, 12:11 PM	#4
naga_sadu Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 556	The police often blow up numerical values to boost their own image and further their own agenda (more central govt. money). It's good to hear that there are groups which are there to cross question such ludicrous claims made by police. I just hope that they establish some sort of a citizens charter which will maintain a permanent check on monetary claims made by law enforcement. __________________ Smoke herb! "....what CNN never dared to tell you." Thanx for the idea Vision of Shiva... 1. Corp watch: Please read and support! 2. Backyard compost makers unite!! Last edited by naga_sadu; 03-14-2006 at 12:15 PM..

03-14-2006, 04:15 PM	#5
radium- OG Refugee Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 291	Did anyone consider the fact the half of those seeds are probably males anyway??? __________________ ...Roll It and They Will Come, Light It and They Will Run!...

03-14-2006, 08:08 PM	#6
Stoner133 Outdoor dude Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: 50N Posts: 441	Stoner's predictions. 200K seeds should result in 100k females. If the typical plant produces 100g, the total yield would be 100k X 100g= 10,000,000g If the typical joint consists of 0.33g, the total would be 30,000,000 joints or one for every person in the country. Seems to me, LEO is using a similar calculation with pinners. Last edited by Stoner133; 03-14-2006 at 08:09 PM..

03-14-2006, 08:41 PM	#7
medicaluser420 Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA Posts: 407	Sure it is bullshit it would be impossible to tell the yield cause everbody grows different some vegg for longer with less plants other plant more and with shorter vegg and get around the same yields so it is impossible. Not to mention all the people who are first time buyer and might never get the seed to sprout or get it to grow. even if they do sprout and they lack experience the plant might not yield much of anything.Even if they were all grown some are not big yielders, stictly quality even under the best of conditions all the plants would yield different amounts of dry weight due to different strains and phenotypes,genotypes.There are way too many factors to caculate. They probably weighed the biggest plant with stem,leaves and water still in it and times it by the number of seeds they had. __________________ medicaluser420 BlueMystic,Papaya,MMM,and Found grow. How To Reveg Aero/Bubbler Cloner

03-13-2006, 08:51 PM	#2
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	top notch article. I thought the exact same thing when I heard the $42mil joint thing. It's just for glamour....

03-13-2006, 09:22 PM	#3
hgl Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 345

03-14-2006, 11:30 PM	#8
Verite My little pony.. my little pony Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 4,750	Silly police, thats what happens when you use an abacus made from doughnuts. __________________ Strains by Verite .......................... Holy Grail Intro, Seeds at Seebay, Private Breeders Orange Diesel Intro, Seeds now at Seedbay

03-14-2006, 11:45 PM	#9
Blunt_69 the keeper of the creeper Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NA somewhere Posts: 1,431	Thats just freakin hilarious. 42million joints........Geezus. Apply that same theory to any crop. Does a wheat farmer yeild the same amount each time he lays seed down??? NO man the mounties make themselves look stupid with those types of numbers.

03-15-2006, 12:23 AM	#10
Postman Pot New Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 5	std practise in the UK to publicise drug busts using the highest mathematical sum they can muster, i.e 1Kg of ganja to the cops is 1000*5 (5 = price of 1g) = £5000 worth of ganja, they calculate by using the smallest deal @ the highest price to maximise the PR. We know & they know prohibition has failed but the anti-drugs sector is a booming business these days for all sorts of people, today i read about a senior welsh copper calling for a rethink on drugs strategy only to be put down by some anti drug campaigner who had no alternative but was convinced prohibition was working, perhaps to keep him in a job......