Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jan 2015
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact: http://www.theprogress.com/contact_us/
Website: http://www.theprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/562
Author: Jeff Nagel

LEGAL MARIJUANA IN BLAINE NOW SHORT WALK FROM B.C.

Marijuana stores have been sprouting all over Washington State since 
retail trade in the drug was legalized in a referendum, but the first 
one has now opened within walking distance of the B.C. border.

Evergreen Cannabis is aimed squarely at the Canadian market and its 
Blaine storefront at 922 Peace Portal Drive - with a sign that reads 
"recreational marijuana store" - is within sight of both the Peace 
Arch and White Rock.

"I know I am controversial because I am close to the border," owner 
Jake Lamont, a Birch Bay resident, told Black Press this week.

To the U.S. border guards stationed just to the north, marijuana 
remains an illegal drug under federal law, even though it's been more 
than two years since the state voted to legalize possession by adults 
of up to an ounce and license a network of growers and retailers.

"I don't worry about it any more," said Lamont, who expects the 
Washington and Colorado legalization experiment will be replicated 
across the U.S.

But he warns his Canadian customers to be careful - bringing weed 
back to B.C. can result in seizure and criminal charges.

"I let them know 'Don't take this across any borders, keep it in the 
state,'" he said.

Evergreen's dried pot, priced at $18.83 a gram, comes with warning 
labels advising it's for consumption in Washington State only.

But that poses a challenge for cannabis tourists coming from B.C.

"The problem is what you do with it once you buy it - where do you 
smoke it?" asked Blaine immigration lawyer Len Saunders. "You're not 
supposed to be smoking it in public."

Saunders also advises Canadian pot enthusiasts to be careful how they 
answer questions from U.S. border authorities.

"If you admit you're coming down to buy marijuana or that you've ever 
smoked marijuana in the past, you're going to get denied entry - period."

Visitors who deny plans to go pot shopping may be taking a risk if 
they then immediately park at the nearby pot store, he added.

"It's literally under the noses of the federal government," Saunders 
said. "That's the irony of this - that it's still illegal federally 
but you can buy it within walking distance of the border."

Lamont said he and his partners are considering opening a private 
club for marijuana users in Blaine to offer customers a legal smoking lounge.

"It's necessary for people who are are traveling, on vacation or 
whatnot to have a place for them to go," Lamont said. "And it's 
especially important to Canadians who are going to be my main clientele."

The new store is one of more than 100 marijuana retailers and 300 
growers that have been licensed in Washington since a 56 per cent 
state vote in favour of Initiative 502 on recreational marijuana 
reform in 2012.

B.C. pot activists hope Washington's experience adds momentum to 
their agenda to reform Canada's policy on marijuana.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in 2013 suggested making 
simple marijuana possession a ticketable offence to give officers a 
more lenient alternative to criminal charges.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom