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  Mining The Depths For Dope
Posted by FoM on July 28, 2001 at 07:56:37 PT
By Charles Mandel  
Source: Wired Magazine 

medical In an abandoned Manitoba mine shaft 1,200 feet below the surface of a lake near Flin Flon, Brent Zettl is growing 185 kilos of marijuana this year. Sounds risky, but Zettl's not worried about getting busted. His client for the $5.8 million crop is the government of Canada.

Zettl runs Prairie Plant Systems, a biotech firm out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The pot he grows will go toward government-sponsored clinical tests to see if the drug is medically effective and can help alleviate the pain for people suffering from diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

The company is cultivating the herb in the mineshaft under grow lights in a 12,000 square-foot growth chamber. Zettl says the mine's underground growth chambers offer control over the plant's growth cycle as well as security.

"When you get 100 percent control over the environment, you take out the peaks and valleys of temperature and humidity stress. We have no bugs or disease underground, so the plants can now take all the energy and shift it to growth," said Zettl, the president and CEO of Prairie Plant Systems.

The plant's growth rate underground is accelerated as much as 400 percent, and Zettl says that one variety is growing as much as an inch-and-a-half daily. Zettl, who is growing the plants from seeds provided by Health Canada (who obtained them from drug arrests), expects the first crop of medical marijuana to be ready in October.

Zettl's lucrative marijuana contract comes from a series of happy coincidences. In 1991, after hard rock miners noticed orange and apple seeds, which they'd spit out, growing as high as six inches in total darkness before they died, the Hudson Bay Smelting and Mining Co. Ltd. invited Zettl's company to try their hand at growing plants underground.

The copper and zinc mine is still in use, with another 25 years of ore reserves estimated, but Hudson Bay's extraction is now carried about four miles away from Prairie Plant Systems' underground chamber.

When Prairie Plant Systems first went underground, the company was still concentrating on cloning and creating hardy, disease-free Saskatoon berry trees. In late 2000, the company received the five-year contract from Health Canada to become its pot supplier.

"Canada is acting compassionately by allowing the use of marijuana by people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illness," said Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock when he awarded the contract.

Health Canada tendered a contract for medical marijuana because it wanted a Canadian source of research-grade weed available to people participating in medical research programs, as well as for people authorized to use it for medical purposes.

The use of medical marijuana in Canada stems partly from a July 2000 Ontario Court of Appeals decision that ruled in the case of Terrance Parker, who used pot to help control his epilepsy.

The court stayed a 1997 lower court decision to uphold the charges against Parker on constitutional grounds, citing issues related to Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. That act gives the Health Minister discretion to decide who has access to marijuana for medical purposes.

In a companion case, the same court concluded that the Canadian Parliament could validly prohibit the use of pot for recreational purposes.

In late July 2000, the Canadian government announced regulations governing the possession and production of marijuana for medical purposes. To apply for and possess medical marijuana, a person must have symptoms associated with a terminal illness with a prognosis of death within 12 months, or symptoms associated with medical conditions listed in a schedule to the regulations, among other qualifications.

Prairie Plants Systems is also operating a pilot project at the White Pine Mine in Michigan. The crop growing in the 30,000 square-foot chamber is another Health Canada contract for a glycol-protein-engineered tobacco plant that promises to help in the treatment of bone marrow cancer.

Zettl says one of the reasons why Prairie Plant Systems went after the marijuana contract is to prove that the concept of growing bio-pharmaceutical plants underground works. "We have to repeat this at the White Pine Mine, not with marijuana, but with other crops."

Zettl says that if they can prove that the process is viably commercial, "it will pave the way for a lot of new drugs being developed and provided in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner."

Source: Wired Magazine (CA)
Author: Charles Mandel
Published: July 28, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Wired Digital Inc.
Contact: newsfeedback@wired.com
Website: http://www.wired.com/

Related Articles & Web Sites:

Prairie Plant Systems
http://www.prairieplant.com/

Canadian Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htm

Searching For a Pot of Gold On Prairies
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9795.shtml

Prairies Go To Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8092.shtml


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Comment #8 posted by mayan on July 29, 2001 at 01:36:55 PT
skunk or schwag?
If Health Canada obtained the seeds from drug arrests,they probably don't know what strain it is or where it was grown. Why didn't they just get the seeds off Emery or another established grower/breeder? I know he is regarded as a very controversial figure by The Canadian government,but at least they would know they had "the sh*t"!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by SWAMPIE on July 28, 2001 at 22:39:45 PT
DDDDEEEEEP-SMOKIN-BUDDY..........
Thanx,dddd,for the kind words!Although I once grew some butt-kickin'herb,I'm a novice!LOL!!I can't wait until it is legal to grow my own medicine,and I,ll help anyone that needs help if they cover my expenses!Gotta lotta ideas!!The idea of growing underground is a real good way to control the climate,if you have the technology.There are alot of constants and varaibles that would both need to be addressed!I'll let you know if I get a project that would cover your pay!!!The"fringes"would be excellent!!!I wouldn't quit my day job!LOL!!!!!Also,underground,the earth stays at a temp. of approx.55 degrees F.which would keep the lights cooler!Maybe a Hydro company would like to talk to us!!!! ONWARD THROUGH THE FOG!! SWAMPIE

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #6 posted by Rainbow on July 28, 2001 at 11:21:16 PT
Mines
I worked at the Sunshine Mine in Kellogg Idaho one summer. The climate down at 4600 and 4800 feet (below sea level) was varied. Depending on the ventilation the air could be stagnant. I had to help carry pipes into a dead end tunnel and we took in a lot of O2 before entering. The air felt dead.

Then there was a time when I got rained on. Another time I wish I had an overcoat, another time I was taking off clothes (watch out there).

So yes they can regulate the climate but no the conditions in underground mines are less than consistent.

Cheers
Rainbow
P.S. Yes I enjoyed working in the mine but was dismayed when I went to work one evening and there were raising up a worker who fell down a shaft. Dangerous (dynamite leaking on the walls) but a lot of fun.


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 28, 2001 at 10:55:46 PT
dddd
That makes sense dddd. I guess it would be easier to control temperature too. We did a little caving back in the 80s and the air became consistent as you went deeper into the cave and maybe mines are the same way.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by dddd on July 28, 2001 at 10:42:21 PT
no problem with mold
..giant banks of halide,or sodium lights,,plus sophisticated
ventilation systems,,,no mold problem...dddd


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by FoM on July 28, 2001 at 10:04:13 PT
Dumb Question
This might seem like a dumb question but when I read they were going to grow in a deep mine what about mold? It sounds like a perfect place to breed mold.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by dddd on July 28, 2001 at 09:25:44 PT
If I was Canada
I think I would have hired GreenFox,or SWAMPIE to grow the buds.
..and I would insist on real SunGrown buds,,because I think they
are more JAHwise..

I'll betchya there was some champagne corks a poppin' when these
guys were awarded this weed growing contract!...talk about a dream job.
..I'd look forward to going to work,,,,,heck,,I'd probably never
go home......hmmmm,,I wonder if they're hiring?,,,perhaps I'll fax
them a resume',,,,,,minimum wage?,,,No problem!....dddd


[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by lookinside on July 28, 2001 at 08:11:13 PT:

i'm pleased...
that the seeds were from drug busts...the variety and quality should be considerably better than any the U.S. guvmint would supply...i hope PPS goes for the absolute best varietals...the higher the potency, the more effective the medicine, while minimizing side effects...

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