黑马磁力

The scent of licensed cannabis production is wafting through rural municipalities dotted across British Columbia.

Some smell opportunity. Others smell a threat.

Businesspeople have been the first to set up shop in Canada鈥檚 legal cultivation market, whose first birthday is on Oct. 17 鈥揻our days ahead of the federal election.

Several of these billion-dollar companies have taken over massive greenhouses in the Lower Mainland, drawing criticism from municipal leaders for displacing local food production, and raising questions about the appropriate use of agricultural land.

Despite these producers expanding at breakneck speed, the unsanctioned market continues to dominate B.C.鈥檚 pot economy. Analysts estimate $10 billion in taxable revenue could be generated if the thousands of growers illicitly selling their product moved into the legal market.

Depending on whom you ask, the black- and grey-market growers who have built the world-renowned brand of B.C. bud represent a potential economic boon for the province, or a decades-long abuse of medicinal cannabis regulations, due for enforcement as soon as the legitimate industry stabilizes.

In this special three-part series, reporter Nick Laba takes an inside look at legal-era cannabis cultivation and what it means to citizens living in one of the most storied regions for growing it.

In visiting cultivation sites in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley 鈥� by speaking to producers, agricultural workers, government officials and next-door neighbours 鈥� you鈥檒l hear a diverse cast of voices explain both the pains and promise of an industry that鈥檚 shifting societal norms like few others have.

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The new smell in town 

Along a narrow road that winds through the hills of rural Maple Ridge lies one of the first commercial facilities to legally grow cannabis in Canada.

Behind chain-link fence and razor wire, Tantalus Labs sits on a small piece of agricultural land, surrounded by neighbours who wish it wasn鈥檛 there.

To the cannabis industry, Tantalus鈥檚 purpose-built greenhouses represent an innovative leap and sustainable alternative to electricity-intensive indoor grows. To the nearby residents, they鈥檙e viewed as a disruption to years of peaceful life in the area.

While Tantalus鈥檚 engineered approach is unique, the complaints from its neighbours are not. Numerous cultivation sites, particularly those on designated agricultural land, have drawn the ire of their local populations. At the top of their list of complaints is the smell.

Across the street, Tom McLennan lives with his wife, Marilyn, in a house they built 40 years ago. He said Tantalus, along with the majority of legal cultivators, are non-compliant because of the odour.

鈥淎ll the neighbours everywhere are complaining about the same thing all across Canada,鈥� he said.

The Cannabis Act states that facilities must be equipped with air filtration to prevent the escape of odours. Concerns related to smell, according to Health Canada, should be directed to local governments or authorities.

Tantalus has air filtration and has passed multiple Health Canada inspections. CEO Dan Sutton said he鈥檚 gone above and beyond to mitigate the impacts of his operations.

鈥淥ur technology is working at industry-leading standards,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been approved as compliant by Health Canada. We鈥檝e never had an infraction from Metro Vancouver, or from any other odour-related governance body.鈥�

A legion of annoyed noses has prompted the regional district to consider stricter bylaws on pot odours, but some agricultural veterans worry the scope could creep into other types of farming.

鈥淚f you want to look at all of agriculture 鈥� what about pig farms, chicken farms, manure spreading?鈥� said Linda Delli Santi, executive director of the BC Greenhouse Growers鈥� Association. 鈥淚 mean, they smell pretty bad, too.鈥�

However, McLennan said cannabis should be regulated differently than other crops.

鈥淵ou got to remember one thing: We鈥檙e dealing with a narcotic on this. We鈥檙e not dealing with potatoes and vegetables.鈥�

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Cash crop or agricultural aggravator?

Many of the B.C. less contentious cultivation sites 鈥� such as Nanaimo鈥檚 Tilray and North Cowichan鈥檚 Broken Coast 鈥� operate on industrial land, not agricultural.

Although the province deems all cannabis production to be farming, several municipalities in the Lower Mainland have been vocal in their opposition to growing it in the Agricultural Land Reserve, a provincial zone of more than 11 million acres of land prioritized for agriculture.

Last December, the City of Richmond called for a provincial moratorium on growing cannabis in the ALR. Since then, land-use regulations were changed to give municipalities greater control over what can be built on agricultural land. In most cases, these amended rules are designed to prevent greenhouse construction.

Richmond was the first in the region to ban pouring concrete on agricultural land 鈥� a practice Coun. Harold Steves said mirrors land-use policy in Japan.

鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate. We have very few greenhouses in Richmond. Delta鈥檚 about one climatic zone warmer than most of Richmond and so that鈥檚 where all the greenhouses went, but that鈥檚 one reason we brought in the bylaws 鈥� because we don鈥檛 want greenhouses built with concrete foundations,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hat happens is you end up losing whatever vegetable production is done in the greenhouses as they鈥檙e converted to cannabis. And I expect a lot of greenhouses in Delta will be converted. So the price of food will go up, but we get our cannabis.鈥�

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Delta city staff estimate nearly 30 per cent of the community鈥檚 greenhouse space has been converted since legalization. Companies that have traditionally grown vegetables, including Houwelings and SunSelect, are converting millions of square feet to marijuana. The City of Delta has been outspoken on the potential negative impact on local food production.

But these fears may be overblown, according to food and resource economics professor James Vercammen at the University of British Columbia.

It鈥檚 a little hypocritical to be concerned about losing land to cannabis production, he said, when property owners in the Fraser Valley sit on acres of unused agricultural land to get a break on their property taxes.

In terms of losing local food production, Vercammen said the claims aren鈥檛 based on facts.

鈥溾�業t鈥檚 healthier because it鈥檚 local and it hasn鈥檛 been stored as long鈥� 鈥� I don鈥檛 really think there鈥檚 much evidence there,鈥� he said. 鈥淢arkets are so globally integrated even BC Hot House owns a lot of production facilities in Mexico so that when the weather cools down, they can ramp up production there.鈥�

Statistics show that B.C. is not a self-reliant producer of food. A 2011 study from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions at the University of Victoria states that we import at least half of what we eat. The numbers skew lower than 35 per cent when accounting for the recommended produce consumption in Canada鈥檚 Food Guide, according to a 2001 study from the Ministry of Agriculture.

If you鈥檙e able to grow a higher value crop like cannabis locally, Vercammen said, it makes sense from an economic perspective. He drew an analogy to B.C.鈥檚 heavily exported blueberry market.

鈥淲e can produce blueberries cheaper than everybody else and have a competitive advantage, so why not specialize and import our food from other places?鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the market directs towards because it鈥檚 the least cost and most profitable outcome.鈥�

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Tomorrow: The rocky road of regulation

In part two of the series, you鈥檒l read about how Canada鈥檚 history of licensed personal production, combined with today鈥檚 strict commercial regulations, has allowed for the existing multi-billion-dollar grey market to tower over the nascent legal regime.

Read the other two instalments:

Nick Laba is a 2019 graduate of the Langara College journalism program. He pursued this investigative series in partnership with Black Press Media.