High times: "Pot Edward Island" author responds to Canadian uproar

Published Aug 19 2008, 04:10 PM by Lance Gould

Prince Edward Island is about the nicest place I’ve ever visited. There, I’ve said it.

Unfortunately, when I’ve traveled there (in 2006 and 2008), I have also discovered that, despite the fact that it looks like paradise, it has problems just like other places. In particular, the provincial newspapers have had quite a few stories about local pot growers. So, I got interested and wrote an article for the Phoenix about this aspect of PEI that is not well known to outsiders and which, in fact, probably should worry islanders. The article was not meant to suggest that PEI has become a giant exporter of pot or a major narcotics haven north of the border. Rather, the point was to contrast an ongoing and seemingly worsening situation vis-a-vis drug consumption and, in particular, illegal marijuana production, with PEI's well honed (and well deserved) image as a clean, peaceful, and serene destination. And though I was writing for “home folks” here in New England, the World Wide Web ensured that my article had just as many readers in PEI almost as soon as it was posted.

My article paid homage to the beauty of the island, but gave visibility to one of PEI’s problems — and that provoked a flurry of angry mail, news reports on the CBC (including a retort from PEI's tourism minister), and articles in newspapers across Canada. In general, these pieced boiled down to anger that a dumb American would have the audacity to find fault with anything Canadian (it is tough, I’ll admit), let alone anything having to do with Canada’s garden spot, PEI.

Folks up north also nailed me on a couple of reporting errors — like my statement that PEI imports “cheap” electricity from Quebec (it actually comes from New Brunswick). I was also told repeatedly by Canadian critics that I had named the wrong person as director of the PEI Federation of Agriculture. After rechecking my facts, however, I found that I was indeed right and my friends in Canada were wrong: the holder of the title is in fact Mike Nabuur (though I did miss the last consonant on his name in my piece — sorry Mike!).

And I’ll repeat one salient fact: police seized 250 pot plants through May of 2008, which is 50 more than they nabbed in all of 2007. In a nutshell, PEI is a swell place — to visit or to live — but if the island can’t figure out what to do about pot, it may find it shares far more with those of us south of the border than it would wish.

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8 Comments

PEI Rod in Vancouver said:

50 more plants found in the province than the year bofore? Alert the UN, Al, sounds like a major catastrophe! Jeez, maybe it's just a sign of one or two cops actually ding their jobs - or just getting lucky. Of all the things you could have written about, this seems like the most minor and obscure topic imaginable.

August 19, 2008 6:11 PM
PEI Guy said:

This is a joke right??? 250 pot plants in a province of 135,000. B.C. ships an under estimated $4 billion a year in weed, most to the US, now theres a story. Maybe while people are on vacation on PEI they may even be able to see the illusive PEI pot plant. Man it must be a slow news week.......

August 19, 2008 11:31 PM
Ex-Pat Islander said:

Oh dear, Mr. Earls. You sound disappointed that the world wide web allowed such a brilliant piece of dishonest, lazy, journalism to get you caught out.

Is it true that your newspaper actually paid for your trip to Prince Edward Island? WOW.

Tell me, which communities in Prince Edward Island are "defiantly dry"? Please. I lived there for the majority of my life and I can guarantee, there are no communities in that province that are dry, defiantly or otherwise.

The person whose name you got wrong is Mike NabuurS. There is an S on the end of his name. So even your attempt at correcting your mistake has resulted in a mistake.

Tell me, which Island emergency room doctors train in Baltimore? Who told you that? That is laughable and WRONG.Canadian doctors train in CANADA.

When you convert the number of grams of marijuana that the mounties seized, that you offer as proof of such a shocking explosion in marijuana cultivation, it works out to five pounds. FIVE POUNDS!!!! SHOCKING!!

Anyway, I could go through the article line by line, but that would take too much time. I only hope your editors are aware that they wasted a week's worth of expenses so you could vacation on such a nice Island.

August 20, 2008 5:21 AM
Islander said:

Prince Edward Island has problems. Many of them.

An "explosion in marijuana cultivation" is not one of them.

There are drug problems, but mostly harder drugs, like Oxycontin.

There are serious alcohol problems.

There is poverty and despair in many areas of PEI.

But there is no "explosion" in marijuana cultivation and to say so is simply dishonest.

August 20, 2008 5:44 AM
Islander said:

Perhaps this "reporter" is smoking too much of this stuff himself..... I've lived on PEI for over 30 years and I can say without a doubt there is no "underground marijuana explosion". The entire article is totally out in left field. I literally laughed out loud when I read this article.

August 20, 2008 8:00 AM
Always Personal said:

The uglist thing about PEI is when some express an opinion whether it is right or wrong Islanders come out in droves with personal attacks. I can only imagine the persoanl attacks in emails he must have recieved. Good thing you didn't write a story on the 618 IP addy's associated with kiddie porn that was uncovered by the O.P.P. LAST YEAR.

August 20, 2008 4:34 PM
nobCyhozy said:

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see you

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November 12, 2008 12:33 PM