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. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh