yeah, as much as I didnt appreciate being hounded... I believe Alexander and Chuck to be right....
the plants I have seen that have fan leaves all the way till the end are noticeably more awesome than ones that have been ripped off...
it makes sense.... leaves use photosynthesis to convert light to energy...if you rip off the leaves (or they die) there is less 'work' being done by the plant to produce...
I'd be willing to guess that the buds never need any light at all...the leaves probably do all or most the work converting energy from the sun/lights ...
even if my point is wrong, I can say from experience that pruning leaves and loosing leaves during the process only weakens the plant...and thats cool...if you want to smoke shit that tastes like fresh cut grass...lol yuck