Paraquat revisited

[Smokin Moose]

Oldtimers may recall in the 70's that the DEA sponsored the spraying of cannabis fields in Mexico with the defoliant, Paraquat. The Mexicans did what any smart Mexican would do, and that was to harvest immediately and ship the tainted weed straight to the US and Canada.
I was in Montreal at the time and health authorities there set up free testing centres so you could check if your weed had traces of paraquat. It's my understanding that paraquat is much like Agent Orange, which some may recall was used as a defoliant in Vietnam. The effect on the lungs if you smoked tainted weed was horrific - bleeding, breathing problems, fluid on the lungs, etc.
So you young stoners, keep in mind what us old timers had to cope with when the war on drugs got nasty. It was like trench warfare there for a while!

 

[CustomMX6]

good story. How did they not know there shit was sprayed before they harvested though?? And I'll give and Amen the previous post, also.

 

[Smokin Moose]

The crops were aerial sprayed, which in itself was a travesty on nature. Once the locals saw the DEA planes in the area they would have had an idea their crop was affected. Because of the risks to consumers, all Mexican weed was suspect.

 

[Gspot NJ]

yet another reason to home grow

 

[Anass]

What would NORML do? or what would they have done?

 

[Brett2theMax]

That is awful!

 

[DaHui]

Woosh, that was harsh.. I'm assuming that like today, many grow ops are done in fields where other plants/veggies/fruits are growing.. The SOBs much of contaminated alot more then just the weed..

So they really set up testing centers, wow.. I mean since it's an illegal substance, I wouldn't dare to go get my stash tested out because I would be scared they would arrest me or confiscate the weed.. I mean, who knows... You would bring it in and the consesus among them would be that any weed that is to be tested must end up with a positive result. If the Gouv. was running it, I highly doubt any of the test were legit..

Hey back in the 70s, where did the Montreal weed come from? I'm guessing it was grown in Quebec somewhere, I doubt it was imported from Mexico.. How long where you in Mtl for again and where did you buy your stash? I dig the fact that you were here in the 70s, it's awesome.

 

[donnar]

Yes, the '70's were awesome. And the '60's. And there was weed from Panama, Columbia, Thailand, etc, so we had a choice of Great smokes. The Mexican market, though they also had some fine stuff from Acapulco, Oaxaca and others, never really recovered from the gment's poisoning of their land.

 

[Smokin Moose]

Woosh, that was harsh.. I'm assuming that like today, many grow ops are done in fields where other plants/veggies/fruits are growing.. The SOBs much of contaminated alot more then just the weed..

So they really set up testing centers, wow.. I mean since it's an illegal substance, I wouldn't dare to go get my stash tested out because I would be scared they would arrest me or confiscate the weed.. I mean, who knows... You would bring it in and the consesus among them would be that any weed that is to be tested must end up with a positive result. If the Gouv. was running it, I highly doubt any of the test were legit..

Hey back in the 70s, where did the Montreal weed come from? I'm guessing it was grown in Quebec somewhere, I doubt it was imported from Mexico.. How long where you in Mtl for again and where did you buy your stash? I dig the fact that you were here in the 70s, it's awesome.

Hi DaHui, when I was in Montreal (77-78), we were getting our weed from a Canadian based in Philly. I know that he and his partner were getting the weed from Key West after it had been shipped in from the Yucutan. The weed came in ten pound bricks and was driven into Canada via Vermont. It was being sold for $500 a pound. I don't recall seeing too much local grown on the market, but a girl I was dating always had some green weed she had grown at her folks place in Dorval.
Hash was readily available at the time. We were acquiring pounds and driving them to Winnipeg to break down for sale. I remember one lot of hash in particular - some red leb we got for $2600/lb. It had the sweetest taste and a dynamite high. Most of the hash was black and this red leb was loved by all who tried it. I was based initially at the Youth Hostel in Aylmer Street, then moved into an apartment overlooking the intersection of Milton and Aylmer Street. I have no idea where most of the weed in Montreal came from but at the time of the Paraquat scare, the authorities seemed to be telling us that MOST of the pot came from Mexico.
As for the testing Centres, I remember taking a sample of weed to an anonymous testing centre. It was one of many and was located in a Youth Clinic just near the Forum. There was another testing centre on Port Arthur. You took a number and filled out a brief questionaire, then came back in 5 days to get your results. No names were ever taken and it did not seem there was a police presence- either from the RCMP, QPP or City police (So many police in Montreal - each with a drug squad). I only tested weed once cos we had drifted more into the hash market. It's odd but it always seemed easier to get hash than weed. Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. Anyway, there were some great nights spent with students from Magill, and Aylmer street really rocked for a while. The Youth Hostel in Aylmer was my fav in the world. It has closed down now and set up in more modern facilities.
I remember we used to go up Mont Royal and sit and watch the squirrels as the sun went down. Then we would make our way down to the Yellow Door where budding musicians played their first gigs. Sometimes we would go down to The Rising Sun on Rue St. Catherine, and groove on till the wee hours - then down to St. Dennis for some steamies. We were all young then and full of hopes and promises. I fell in love in Montreal and took my french Canadian bride back to Australia.
You know, I went back to Montreal in 1988 as part of the Australian *** Team's tour of Canada. I had learned to play *** in Montreal in 1977 and started up the sport on my return to Australia. A decade later I came back, not as a backpacker but as Captain of the Australian ***Team. We had another tour in 1991 where I was again Captain (see Google -Australian *** Team 1991), when we went to the inaugural World Championships in Victoria, BC. The tour in '88 went for 6 weeks. We played games in Toronto, Simco, Ottawa, Montreal, Mt Laurier, Quebec, Charlo, Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, and Calgary. It was an epic tour. The tour in '91 went for 5 weeks. We saw a lot of Canada and made a lot of friends. I think it was the French Canadians though that captured our hearts. Certainly the young French Canadian I married did!
Hope that helps.
Moose

ps. It has been my dream to go back to Montreal and smoke a joint on the top of Mt Royal as the sun comes up. I think I mentioned this to you on another posting a few weeks back. Go Habs!!!!

pps. I remember watching the Habs play at the Forum. There was Guy LaFleur, Ken Dryden, Steve Shutt. It always amazed me watching LaFleur skate. So fast, in total control and his hair trailing in the breeze as he skated on goal. The atmosphere in the Forum was electric...and the noise when the Habs scored or when a fight broke out. Absolutely unforgettable!!!!

 

[DaHui]

Sounds like Mtl was pretty cool back then. It still is now

Go Habs go.. Yeah, they didn't make the playoffs, there is always next year! Lol.. But yeah, in the 70s and 80s were the Habs golden years..

Like I've told you before, lemme know when your in town and I'll def take you up on that joint at Mt Royal

 

[Smokin Moose]

I think I was very lucky to have experienced Montreal. I hope others will take the time to visit and get into the french culture.

 

[OnionGobbler]

^ What an exceptional story. Were you fluent in french prior to going there your first time ? If not, I'm curious how you were able to woo a Quebecois girl without that ability.

 

[Smokin Moose]

I like to think I won her heart cos I was young, dashing and handsome. :icon_cool

 

[Happy Kitty]

I lived in San Diego during the paraquat scare, and remember it well. Being so close to the border it was big news.

I think they brought a lot of attention to marijuana, and in turn made more people interested in finding out what all the talk was about.

It didn't keep anyone from smoking, they just were more selective. And we didn't smoke any mexican weed for some time. We had lots of other choices, including the good old homegrown.

Acapulco Gold is some (inhale) bad ass weed!!!