Pubdate: Mon, 27 May 2002
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: David Carrigg
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

MARIJUANA INDUSTRY THRIVES AFTER 9/11

Vancouver's multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry remains a bright 
light in the provincial economy.

Police, pot advocates and academics agree the market has already 
adjusted to post Sept. 11 security measures and the U.S. government's 
renewed anti-drug campaign.

Steve Easton, an economist at Simon Fraser University speaking to the 
Fraser Institute May 29 on the economics of B.C.'s marijuana trade, 
said anecdotal evidence shows the industry has adapted to the new 
border pressures.

"People are simply being more and more ingenious at solving the 
problem," said Easton, who predicts the price of a pound of B.C. bud 
will be listed on the commodity pages of daily newspapers in as 
little as a decade.

The B.C. marijuana trade, currently estimated to be worth between $3 
billion to $6 billion a year, is one of the three key export 
generators in the province alongside the lumber industry-which has 
just been hit with a 27.2 per cent U.S. tariff-and the struggling 
tourism industry.

The trade is important because of the economic spin-offs. For every 
crop harvested, Easton said, teams of trimmers are hired to remove 
the leaves around the buds. The profits from U.S. sales are often 
used for home and vehicle repairs and consumer items.

Marc Emery, a city mayoral candidate and operator of the world's 
largest marijuana seed export business, said local growers stockpiled 
pot immediately following Sept. 11 because it was so hard to find 
smugglers willing to cross the border.

When the price of marijuana in the U.S. went up as a result-to about 
$7,500 a pound in California and $12,000 a pound in New York-growers 
were able to pay smugglers more and outfit them with high-tech gear 
like night-vision goggles and global positioning satellites. (The 
price for a pound of B.C. bud remains at between $2,500 to $3,000 in 
the Lower Mainland.)

The GPS systems, which are worth about $300, are attached to the 
marijuana and either dumped in the ocean or stashed in bushland just 
over the border. The U.S. contacts then hone in on the coded GPS 
signal and retrieve the drugs.

"It's only idiots trying to take the stuff through border crossings 
now. Instead they are kayaking or hiking it over the border," said 
Emery, adding the increased border security has simply made the pot 
industry more lucrative for growers, smugglers and dealers.

Post-Sept. 11 security upgrades at Blaine and other Lower Mainland 
border crossings have included additional staff and the installation 
of video cameras along Zero Avenue covering the Blaine car and truck 
crossing.

Emery said the only risk to the B.C. bud industry is that Americans 
will start growing pot themselves because it's so lucrative. He said 
growers of lower-grade pot are finding it harder to sell their wares 
because smugglers will only take a risk on the highest-grade 
indoor-grown pot.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency office re-opened 
its Vancouver office, closed since the 1980s. The U.S. government has 
also launched an advertising campaign linking the marijuana trade 
with terrorism.
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MAP posted-by: Josh