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The Ottawa Citizen Online B.C. entrepreneurs market pot-growing machine to medical users DENE MOORE VANCOUVER (CP) - John Brusatore has a budding career because of Canada's new medical marijuana laws. The British Columbia entrepreneur is marketing his Power Grow system as a foolproof way for medical marijuana users to grow their own supply. In its first six weeks of operation, All-Round Industries has done more than $1 million in business. "People that do medically need (marijuana), they don't have to go out on the street for it or they're not going to try and set up some two-bit wiring job in their house and burn their house down," said Brusatore. The Power Grow is fully automated and has a ventilation system to prevent the telltale smell of a marijuana-growing operation. "You just plug it into the wall and it'll grow one to two pounds of marijuana every six to eight weeks with no pesticides," said Brusatore, who included information on the system at http://www.powergrowsystem.net Each unit, resembling a wide refrigerator with two separate compartments, sells for about $4,000. Brusatore and his partner, Jason Bleuler, have franchises opening in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec and they plan to expand into the United States. The idea was sparked by Canada's medicinal marijuana policy, which came into effect earlier this month. People with a terminal or debilitating illnesses such as multiple sclerosis or AIDS can apply for the legal right to possess and cultivate marijuana for their own medical use. It opened the door for All-Round to get a legal piece of the $200-billion pot industry. Although pot plants decorate the company's Web site, the system is just a plant-growing machine and "it's not up to us to police who's using it," Brusatore said. Medicinal marijuana users can legally grow pot, said Eric Nash, who, along with partner Wendy Little, has created an online directory for medical pot users. http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/ is a searchable database of information, complete with Health Canada application forms. "I've had a lot of relatives die of cancer - my mother most recently," said Nash. When another elderly relative suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease mentioned trying marijuana, Nash and Little went looking for more information. It wasn't easy, so Nash, a Web designer, and Little, a teacher, decided to save others the trouble. The directory also puts medical users in touch with experienced "green thumbs." Police say it is up to those who have medical exemptions from drug laws to ensure they stay within the law. "If people are allowed to grow marijuana, they have the permits, there wouldn't be anything wrong with them getting a piece of equipment that would allow them to do that," said Sgt. Mike Dunbar of the RCMP drug-enforcement section in Vancouver. But a kilogram every couple of months far exceeds the amount they are permitted to have, he said. "A couple of pounds every couple of months is more than one person is going to use for themselves, so what do you do with the excess?" said Dunbar. SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen / The Canadian Press http://www.southam.com/ottawacitizen/newsnow/cpfs/national/010826/n082652.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn