A Canadian senator wants to know if allowing cannabis to be grown outdoors would leave them vulnerable to aerial drones, which could then swoop down from the sky and steal the plants.

Senators took a field trip to Smiths Falls on Monday to visit Canopy Growth’s facilities, which is a licensed producer of medical cannabis, as part of their study on the Liberal government’s cannabis legislation.

Independent Sen. Ratna Omidvar, who went on the trip, raised the concern in the Senate after the company’s CEO Bruce Linton brought up in conversation that the new cannabis regime could allow for some companies to grow cannabis in open fields — areas vulnerable to unmanned aerial vehicles.

“The legislation will enable the growth of cannabis in open fields in certain circumstances for individuals and companies that have licenses,” she said in the Senate chamber Tuesday.

“[Linton] pointed out that his concern would be it’s an open field accessible by drones.”

“I had never thought of that — that drones could fly in. And that could create another expression of criminalization.”

She asked the government’s representative in the Senate, Peter Harder, if he has a “point of view on that, and whether this should be looked at in in committee as well.”

Sen. Harder responded that would be “exactly the kind of question” appropriate to ask in a committee study of the bill, hearing from experts and those in the “existing medical market, their experience and the kind of concerns that might raise.”

Linton had argued on CBC radio’s The Current last Friday, in an episode looking at the environmental impacts of growing marijuana, that allowing growing cannabis in open fields — something the government proposed in its draft cannabis regulations and has been consulting on — would make it more likely to be ripped off, possibly via drone.

“All I could picture was a group of 17-year-olds with drones advocating that fields of cannabis be available for them to find ways to steal,” he said, responding to a point from an earlier guest.

“The idea of growing outside without a roof strikes me as a terrific idea if I was 17 and had a drone, and a horrible one if I actually want a sustainable transition from the black market.”

His company and others have invested in building greenhouses and indoor production; outdoor production isn’t allowed for commercial purposes under the current medical cannabis regime. Another cannabis company, Anandia Labs, had argued to the House of Commons health committee when it studied Bill C-45 that the new regime should allow for outdoor growing to reduce energy and water use.

One drone company quickly panned the notion of aerial theft Tuesday.

Perhaps the senator should stop watching Terminator movies, and look into what current tech can actually do. — Spectre UAV Inc. (@spectre_uav) February 13, 2018