Monday, October 15, 2007

6% of all power produced by BC Hydro is used to grow marijuana.

Here's the AFP story:

Canada cuts power lines to battle cannabis

It's not hard for police to identify the pot growers in this western Canada town: They merely scan residents' utility bills to determine who is using a lot more power than the average homeowner.

Armed with that information, local authorities cut the power off to the home of the suspected offender, often leaving scores of pot growers without the artifical light and water needed to cultivate their home-grown cash crop.

British Columbia, with a population of four million, has an estimated 20,000 inhabitants who raise a potent local marijuana known here as "B.C. Bud."

The plants, collectively worth nearly seven billion dollars each year, account for a whopping six percent of this province's power consumption....MORE

And in the currency wars:
Strong Loonie Burns Canada's Marijuana Exporters


The strong Canadian dollar has hit the illegal marijuana sector just as it has other industries that export to the United States, one of Canada's best known legalization advocates said on Thursday.

But western marijuana growers have also benefited from Canada's strong economy, especially the booming Alberta oil patch, which has increased domestic consumption, according to Marc Emery, a founder of the British Columbia Marijuana Party

....More from Foxnews.

HT: FatKnowledge
(sort of, he sent me to Breitbart, where I couldn't find the "6%" story)