Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 Nelson Daily News Contact: http://www.nelsondailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/288 Author: Kathy Kiel Note: Part 1, http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1742/a04.html PART THREE - THE STEREOTYPE MUST BE BROKEN You can smell it in the air, either on the local streets or hillsides - and people in Parliament and the rest of the country are buzzing about it. Today, in the final part of a three part series on the pot industry in B.C., Kathy Kiel looks at how the Nelson area's dope scene is perhaps unfairly perceived by the outside world. West Kootenay residents have been stereotyped as marijuana users for too long, says a local writer, who penned a book examining the B.C. pot industry. "To say that Nelson is full of hippies and potheads who smoke dope is really an oversimplification," said Drew Edwards, author of West Coast Smoke: The Inside Story of the B.C. Pot Boom. "Nelson, like other communities in Canada, is filled with people who smoke marijuana recreationally and still hold down full-time jobs." The perpetrators who generalize area residents as a bunch of marijuana growers and users are usually the ones that want the drug curbed. Stereotypes such as these "demonize" the way others may see the people of the region, said Edwards. "Is drug use more prevalent in Nelson than in other places? Probably. Are there more hippies per capita in this town than in others? Yeah. Do we grow more dope than most other areas in the country? I guess we do." But statistics show, said Edwards, that marijuana users are from far more segments of society, not just "bums and scums and unskilled ones." "The dominant society in Nelson is like in every other community. It is dominated by the hardworking people who live in their house and go to work every day and do what they have to do to get by - that's the majority of society and the majority of Nelson." Nelson has the tendency to get pigeonholed as a "pot-Mecca" because some have given it a bad name. Edwards said this angers many locals. "I think that does hurt and frustrate some of our civic leaders - but I don't think it has done us any damage. I don't think people don't come to Nelson because they're afraid of potheads." Edwards, who researched for two years before the book's completion, instead believes that it may be an attraction for people to come to the Heritage City because of "that added cultural element." Mounties agree there is a "tendency" for Nelsonites to be stereotyped as marijuana consumers in the eyes of others. "You look at some young person who dresses a little differently, has different looking hair than normal and I think the assumption is automatically tagged to them that they're pot smokers," said RCMP drug awareness officer Cst. Tom Clark, "I think it's unfair and a form of prejudice." Clark doesn't think, however that there's a higher number per capita of marijuana smokers in Nelson as compared to other regions. Instead, there is a form of silent consent and a growing tolerance. Although there is a fairly accepting attitude towards marijuana consumption in the area, many people are supportive of the RCMP's initiatives to eradicate pot from the area. "I think there's a tremendous amount of support in this valley," said Clark at last week's half-million dollar bust near New Denver. "I think this valley's been slapped by some negative connotations and I think there are a lot of people who are in this valley who are in full support of what we're doing." Some senior residents have said they find it surprising there are groups of people smoking dope downtown and believe the police are not laxadasical, just more tolerant of its use. Whereas, in Edmonton, they say they wouldn't see activities like that. New Denver Cpl. Ken Harrington said the theory there is more pot on the streets in Nelson as compared to in bigger cities like Edmonton or Toronto is untrue. "If you walk into areas of those communities the marijuana consumption may not be obvious," said Harrington. "But you walk around and it doesn't take you very long to find the used needles and the cokeheads and the heroin users. So, if in Nelson they're using marijuana, in other communities they may be smoking crack." When Harrington moved to New Denver a few years ago, he talked to a lot of locals. "The picture that was cast my way when I first came here was that the Slocan Valley is full of marijuana growers, marijuana users and that was it." Harrington now knows the truth and believes the majority aren't pot smokers and just want to live their lives and not be bothered. "The population is more accepting of diversity." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D