Vancouver Island cannabis farm raises concerns about safety, smells

Residents of a town south of Nanaimo, B.C. on Vancouver Island are voicing their concerns about an upcoming cannabis farm in their neighbourhood.

The Crofton Craft facility on Quennell Lake near Cedar will soon grow and process up to 10,000 cannabis plants per year. The facility used to be a potato farm, but it was sold earlier this year. 

People in the area say they began to worry when they noticed a barbed wire fence and security cameras go up around it. 

"It looked to us like a minimum security facility,"said Donna Laing, who lives next door to the farm. "I thought, what's so valuable that needs this kind of protection?"

The Agriculture Land Commission allows producers to grow cannabis on land set aside for farming.

The fences and cameras around the new facility are part of Health Canada requirements that need to be in place before the company starts to grow any plants. But residents hope to stop that process before the company's licence is granted. 

Laurie Judson Quesnel, a riding instructor who lives across from the farm, says she's worried about an increase in crime.

"That's a huge, huge, concern. There's tons of children around here," Quesnel said.

Crofton Craft managing director Richard Dowker says residents don't need to worry about their safety. 

"This is a secure facility. It's not going to attract people. It's not an easy target," Dowker said. 

But nearby residents say safety isn't their only concern. They're also worried about pollution — the farm is allowed to take water directly from the lake. 

John Laing says he's done his research about the odours that come from cannabis operations and he's not happy with what he found out.

"Anyone close to a cannabis operation complains about a very skunk-like, sewer-like smell that just hangs in there in the hot summer days," Laing said.

Dowker says smells are a normal part of farming operations, no matter what is being produced. 

"Everything from dairy farms to other things which are more odorous, it's part of the process," he said.