Being the curious fellow I am, I've actually researched a bit about starting 
a legal grow operation...it can be hugely lucritive, in the order of 200,000 
bucks a month once you are up and running.
About 200 G's to get started and a bunch of paper work, but they don't 
refuse permits to anyone here in Canada as long as you send in the correct 
paper work.
and the market is in need of another couple hundred large production 
suppliers right now in this country.
I don't use it myself, but I can certainly see the up side of growing it for 
proffit.

73
Colin, V A6BKX
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Pat Byrne" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2014 1:18 PM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Radio airwaves get buzzed from pot

> Damn; will have to re-evaluate my career path!!
> Pat, K9JAUAt 01:49 PM 6/5/2014, you wrote:
>>BlankRan across this in USA Today.
>>
>>Radio airwaves get buzzed from pot By Trevor Hughes,
>>
>>A few years ago, retired electrical engineer Tom Thompson noticed it was
>>getting harder and harder to hear his friends across the country talking 
>>to
>>him on their ham radio sets. So Thompson built a portable antenna system 
>>to
>>track down whatever was interfering with his radio transmission.
>>
>>The culprit? Marijuana grow operations, whose powerful grow lights can 
>>emit
>>interference blocking radio broadcasts on the ham and AM spectrums.
>>
>>The first grower he encountered wasn't pleased to know Thompson, now 73,
>>could tell what was going on. "He said, 'What are you going to do, call 
>>the
>>cops?' Thompson said. "And I said, 'Well no, it's a federal matter.
>>
>>' With 22 states and the District of Columbia allowing medical marijuana,
>>and Colorado and Washington permitting recreational use, there's been an
>>explosion in the number of people growing their own pot, much of it 
>>indoors.
>>With that growth has come increasing interference from the grow lights,
>>which suck down huge amounts of electricity to shine upon budding 
>>marijuana
>>plants. Growing pot indoors is usually more secure and gives the grower 
>>more
>>control over light, water and insects, which results in higher-quality
>>plants commanding a premium price.
>>
>>The interference problems from one type of system have gotten so bad that
>>the amateur radio association, ARRL, filed a formal federal complaint on
>>behalf of the country's 720,000 licensed ham operators. The problems are
>>worse in Colorado and California, said Sean Kutzko, an ARRL spokesman.
>>
>>The interference is caused by what are known as "ballasts," electronic
>>systems controlling the grow lights. Unless they're properly shielded, the
>>ballasts can throw off a wide range of interference. "We're seeing 
>>numerous
>>cases ... and that's causing us a problem," Kutzko said. "We just want to
>>make sure the manufacturers are in compliance with FCC laws. The FCC has 
>>the
>>power to regulate anything that interferes with licensed radio
>>transmissions, such as ham sets, but also cellphones and AM radios.
>>
>>Steve, K8SP