Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jan 2015
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Surrey Leader
Contact:  http://www.surreyleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1236
Author: Jeff Nagel

LEGAL POT IN BLAINE A 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: Matt