cannabisnews.com: This Bud's For The U.S.










  This Bud's For The U.S.

Posted by CN Staff on August 15, 2004 at 13:26:08 PT
By Anita Hamilton 
Source: Time Magazine  

It was the bus driver who noticed something suspicious. According to school officials, a driver for Blaine High School in northwestern Washington State thought something was strange about students' carrying unusually full bags to school and then never taking them back home. He alerted U.S. authorities, who boarded the bus on the morning of Feb. 20 and allegedly found 8 lbs. of marijuana, valued at $25,000, hidden inside a teenage girl's backpack. Prosecutors allege that the minor, 16, was getting paid $300 a trip to work as a drug mule for smugglers moving marijuana into the U.S. from Canada. The teen's home, in Point Roberts, Wash., borders British Columbia in an area with relatively light border patrol, which would have made it easy for her to get the drugs from Canada before getting on the bus.
Expelled from school and charged with possessing marijuana with intent to deliver, the girl has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 23 in Bellingham, Wash. Deputy prosecutor Thomas Verge has said he will probably ask for an exceptionally long sentence that would put the teen behind bars until her 21st birthday. The controversy has upset the community. "She was a wonderful young girl," says her principal, Dan Newell. "I wouldn't have ever thought that if anyone was going to haul marijuana across the border, it would be this lady."Nor would anyone have thought that the cross-border traffic of illegal drugs would become one of the knottiest areas of disagreement between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. An estimated 880 to 2,200 tons of marijuana are grown in Canada, according to a new report from Canadian police. About 90% of the commercial crop winds up in the U.S., where its street value ranges from $5 billion to $25 billion. Although only 5% of pot in the U.S. comes from Canada, the trade is flourishing because of high demand in the U.S. and the comparatively mild punishments in Canada for growers and traffickers.The U.S. seized more than 48,000 lbs. of marijuana along the Canadian border last year, nearly double the 26,000 lbs. it retrieved in 2002, according to a U.S. State Department report. There have been seizures all along the border, in Montana, North Dakota, Michigan, Ohio and other states. Canadian pot has cachet in the U.S. because of its reputation for being especially potent. The featured brand is BC Bud — which is grown in British Columbia and has become synonymous with the high-grade marijuana grown throughout Canada. Once in the U.S., the pot is exchanged for cash, and sometimes cocaine or guns, which are then smuggled back to Canada.Although the actual potency of BC Bud varies from batch to batch, depending on how it's grown, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that as much as 25% of BC Bud is made of the psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In contrast, the pot that the hippie generation smoked in the 1970s had only 2% THC content, and most pot consumed in the U.S. today averages about 7% THC. White House drug czar John Walters blames BC Bud in part for the increased number of pot-related emergency room incidents, which have more than doubled, from 54,000 in 1996 to 119,000 in 2002. Those incidents range from accidents and injuries to unexpected reactions to the drug. "Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana," Walters told reporters in April. Others dispute Walters' claims. "Domestic American marijuana is probably a little bit better," says Richard Stratton, editor in chief of High Times, a magazine that covers marijuana issues. But the BC Bud name is so well regarded that some dealers pass off other varieties as Canadian to fetch the $3,000-to-$10,000-per-lb. price. And BC Bud seems to be everywhere. "It's hella easy to get," says "Angelo," 22, a Seattle resident who asked to be identified by a pseudonym. "You can usually go to [a convenience store] between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. and ask people who you think smoke bud," he says. On the Canadian side, the drug is even more ubiquitous. At the popular New Amsterdam Cafe in downtown Vancouver, customers openly smoke marijuana. "People come with pot. We are a business, though, so we have a $2 minimum cafe charge [for snacks and drinks]," says cafe manager Scott Heardy. Inspector David Nelmes, who is in charge of drugs for the Vancouver police department, tells TIME, "I can't remember the last time a member of the Vancouver police department arrested someone for smoking a joint. Frankly, who's got time?" If passed within the year, as seems likely, new Canadian legislation would decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana, meaning that offenders would be slapped with only the equivalent of a traffic ticket. That approach is a far cry from the one that is taken in U.S. states like Oklahoma, where a person caught smoking dope could get up to a year in prison, although probation is more common. Canada's attitude toward small-scale toking up has led some U.S. officials to blame the northerners for the influx of BC Bud in America. "If the perception is that it will be easier to get marijuana in Canada ... then it creates problems at the border," Paul Cellucci, U.S. ambassador to Canada, said at a Toronto Board of Trade dinner in February. Indeed, the trade has led to an increase in drive-by shootings in Canada by rival dealers, and to "grow-rips," in which competing clans break into growers' houses to steal their crops, according to Canadian police. The body of the suspected ringleader of a trafficking group was found stabbed in the neck in a ditch in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in November 2002. "It's still a dangerous drug," says James Capra, the DEA's chief of domestic operations. "People are killing each other over it."Currently, a grower in Canada who has been convicted can expect less than two years of house arrest and a trafficker anywhere from three months to five years, served either at home or in prison, compared with the minimum punishment of five to 10 years that most convicted traffickers and growers receive in U.S. federal court. But as the violence has increased and cultivation of the crop has moved into residential areas, Canada has begun cracking down on its estimated 50,000 commercial pot growers. Over the past four years, police in Vancouver have seized $288 million worth of marijuana and $8.7 million worth of growing equipment. In Barrie, Ont., in January, police confiscated 30,000 marijuana plants, worth $23 million, inside a former Molson brewery.One hot, muggy morning in July, a TIME reporter accompanied the Vancouver police as an officer thumped on the door of a two-story brick-and-panel house on a leafy street of manicured lawns. Inside, officers discovered a basement filled wall to wall with more than 300 glossy female cannabis bushes. That bust is pretty routine, but the BC Bud keeps flowing. In the past four years, Vancouver police have made more than 1,500 others, or about one a day.Note: Canada's relaxed drug laws may be fueling a boom in marijuana exports to America. Reported by Ben Bergman/Blaine, Laura Blue/New York, Chris Daniels/Toronto, DeborahSource: Time Magazine (US)Author: Anita HamiltonPublished: Monday, August 23, 2004Copyright: 2004 Time Inc.Contact: letters time.comWebsite: http://www.time.com/time/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmTight Border a Low Note for The High Tradehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19230.shtmlPot is Canadian Drug of Choice, Statscan Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19213.shtmlU.S. Drug Czar Warns of Potent Pot Herehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19209.shtml

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Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 19, 2004 at 15:04:56 PT
CCC: Prince of Pot Gets 90 Days
[CCC] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PRINCE OF POT GETS 90 DAYS FOR PASSING TWO JOINTS ### DEVELOPING NEWS ALERT ###PRESS RELEASE AUGUST 19, 2004FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE'PRINCE OF POT' SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR PASSING TWO JOINTSSASKATOON - Marc Emery, President of the B.C. Marijuana Party, founder of POT-TV.net, and one of Canada's most media-savvy and provocative pot activists was sentenced to 90 days in jail in a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Provincial Court late this afternoon on a charge of trafficking marijuana. The charge stem from a March 22, 2004 incident following a political speech Emery gave at the University of Saskatoon in the run up to the federal election. Emery shared two marijuana cigarettes with individuals who met with him after attending his speech. Currently under Canadian law the non-commercial transfer of marijuana between individuals, even for the purposes of sharing, is considered trafficking. The proposed Liberal government's decriminalization bill would not change this aspect of the law despite strong objections by the NDP.
      
A Statistics Canada report released July 21 revealed that over one third (over ten million Canadians) have used marijuana in their lifetime. Presumably in most if not all of these instances, marijuana was transferred between individuals on a non-commercial basis (i.e. shared with a friend or spouse). Many Canadians would be surprised to learn that simply passing a joint between friends is considered trafficking under law and would lead to being put in jail. The charge of trafficking carries with it a possible seven year jail sentence for simply passing a joint to a friend.Following his arrest Emery spent three nights in jail, was forced to pay $3,500 bail and additional legal costs, as well as agree to stipulations severely restricting his rights and freedoms - all for passing two joints. As one of the most tenacious, prominent and visible leaders of the cannabis political movement in Canada, Emery's incarceration is sure to set off political fireworks in the coming months as a growing and emboldened pro-legalization community prepares to launch a full offensive against the government's effort to revive a failed decriminalization bill in the fall. Emery's case stands as an example of how the weak and ill-conceived Liberal decriminalization bill would do very little to improve the lives of Canadians and the flaws inherent in the current system. Activists say Emery's situation stands as an example of the injustice that continues to be suffered by many Canadians as a result of a thirty year failure to reform Canada's outdated prohibition laws. In this day and age, no Canadian should be subjected to a prison for pot use between friends, say activists. In 2002, the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs unanimously found that the policy of prohibiting marijuana causes more harm to Canadians than inherently exists from marijuana use alone. On June 5, 2004, just weeks before the federal election, Emery spoke to a crowd of thousands at an unprecedented pro-legalization rally on Parliament Hill. Emery was scheduled to appear next at the Canabian Day festival in Hamilton on Saturday August 21.Contact Info: Marc Emery's legal counsel, Leanne Johnson 306-249-6592 or 306-717-4157
Media Contact BC Marijuana Party, Pot TV (604)684-7076; or Chris Bennett(604) 215-7973
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Comment #22 posted by unkat27 on August 16, 2004 at 17:23:46 PT
Duh?
"It's still a dangerous drug," says James Capra, the DEA's chief of domestic operations, "People are killing each other over it."Duh? Did this guy learn anything in school or did he close his mind after his first DARE meeting and his first paycheck for busting down doors and violating people's rights? Gee, James, I don't suppose it has anything to do with the FACT that marijuana is ILLEGAL, do YOU??????? DUHHHHHHHHHHHH????????
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Comment #21 posted by dididadadidit on August 16, 2004 at 11:14:52 PT
Off By a Factor of Ten, But Still - - -
The dollar value should be 100 billion to 500 billion, not 1 to 5 trillion. Still the taxation point is well taken. Billions could be raised with a "sin" tax on cannabis, rather than wasting tens of billions year in and year out in the current "cops and robbers" game.Cheers?
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Comment #20 posted by dakota420 on August 16, 2004 at 08:56:20 PT:
CASH
"About 90% of the commercial crop winds up in the U.S., where its street value ranges from $5 billion to $25 billion. Although only 5% of pot in the U.S. comes from Canada, the trade is flourishing because of high demand in the U.S. and...." If only 5% of the U.S. pot comes from Canada at a value of $5-25 billion, then the value of the U.S. pot is $1-5 trillion???? Are the government flunkies missing a huge tax collection issue or what?
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on August 16, 2004 at 08:38:42 PT
Dongenero
And the creeps have the nerve to say they are the "good" guys. 
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Comment #18 posted by dongenero on August 16, 2004 at 08:34:09 PT
prohibition has caused this
Right on Hope. Furthermore, Prohibition has caused this. Several pounds of weed would not be in the hands of this 16 year old if Canada and the U.S. were to repeal prohibition.
The prohibitionists have created a situation where this can happen to children. They should be ashamed of themselves. 
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on August 16, 2004 at 08:26:32 PT
Perhaps, Dongenero,
He's like the other reprobate freaks that want to "send a message"...using...wasting... someone else's life and livlihood.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on August 16, 2004 at 08:23:51 PT
Dongenro, I agree
"This judge is a sick, sorry human being."
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 16, 2004 at 08:12:06 PT
"The greater question is this."
AlvinCool, I suspect it's a case of sheer fear on the part of that sector that won't discuss it with us. 
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Comment #14 posted by dongenero on August 16, 2004 at 07:41:40 PT
5 years in prison-16 years old!??
Put a 16 year old girl in prison until she is 21!!!??....for carrying pot!?
This war on drugs is absolutely insane. You've all seen the reports I'm sure about how much time is served for various violent crimes. As I recall you have to commit manslaughter or rape to spend 5 years in prison....if you're an adult!
How is putting this girl in prison going to help anyone is beyond all sense of reason.
It's too bad for her she doesn't have a prominent politician in her family. We all have seen in the news how that can pull strings to get you out anything from doc shopping for pharmaceuticals to growing and distributing marijuana...uh multiple offences as I recall.
This judge is a sick, sorry human being. I say we put him in prison.
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Comment #13 posted by AlvinCool on August 16, 2004 at 04:28:31 PT
LTE
It's the lure of money in tight economic times. Putting this girl behind bars for 5 years serves no purpose. And if she was using and transporting the type of marijuana that John Walters talks about so often, why didn't she show any of the tell tale symptoms he so rants about? Instead she is only mentioned as a nice girl that everyone likes.The greater question is this. Why, after 70 years of cannabis prohibition, can we not have nationwide public debate on this issue? At 30 to 40 percent support in every state the question can be raised it's clear that the end of prohibition has support in the US and around the globe. In a true democracy we debate our problems, we don't preach from a pulpit.
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Comment #12 posted by mayan on August 16, 2004 at 04:11:15 PT
Chavez
It looks like Chavez survives again. If he's so hated by Bush he must be doing something right!Latest results suggest Chavez survives recall vote:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-08-15-venezuela_x.htmRecall vote: Chavez claims victory
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/08/16/venezuela.recall/index.htmlChavez claims referendum victory:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3569012.stm
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Comment #11 posted by Kegan on August 16, 2004 at 04:01:53 PT
50,000 grow ops
Busting one grow op per day, it would take 136 years to get them all.At 5 grow busts per day, it would take over 27 years to get them all.
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Comment #10 posted by Robbie on August 15, 2004 at 20:47:49 PT
Seattle Hempfest next weekend!!
Hope to see everyone (who can make it) there!!http://www.hempfest.orghttp://www.seattlehempfest.com...and Hugo Chavez will be victorious! Should be a damn good week.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 15, 2004 at 20:00:40 PT
Global Warming
"My prayers are for that child..."Amen
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Comment #8 posted by Virgil on August 15, 2004 at 19:57:29 PT
In my story, the prosecuters R the criminals
The fantasyland of the prohibitionists would have you belive the child is the bad guy. On presenting a black hat award to the prosectors, I must say my idea of justice would give them life, if not death.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 15, 2004 at 16:51:59 PT
Hope
That's ok. I was looking all over for my glasses the other day and I just couldn't find them anywhere. I was already wearing them! LOL!
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on August 15, 2004 at 16:42:06 PT
Sorry,
I haven't got my glasses on and didn't read before I posted...I've apparently blundered into a very serious conversation with my rather silly announcement.Sorry
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on August 15, 2004 at 16:39:42 PT
Off topic...
Just heard Peace Train on the radio. Just got a new insight into "Holy Rollers"! 
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on August 15, 2004 at 14:08:43 PT
Hang em High
"It was the bus driver who noticed something suspicious.""Deputy prosecutor Thomas Verge has said he will probably ask for an exceptionally long sentence that would put the teen behind bars until her 21st birthday."I hope that when they hang these useless pieces of garbage, that even the crows might be able to digest their dimented tissue they call a brain.My prayers are for that child that has been caught up in this insanity of the greedy adults, not only the ones who used her to traffic, but the community who failed her and left her out to dry, but also those scumbag lawyers and judges who will use her, hold her up as some piece of garbage, while they puff up their chests and show the world how important and powerful they are.I spit on their graves, for when they pass on, they will not be missed.GW
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Comment #3 posted by Druid on August 15, 2004 at 14:04:01 PT
According to the RCMP
While the amount of pot detected moving south from Canada has increased steadily since 2000, to almost 15,700 kilograms last year, it was dwarfed by the 406,000 kilograms of Mexican marijuana seized at the U.S. border in 2003.http://www.canada.com/national/features/marijuana/story.html?id=d1616c1c-2a28-48e3-afb0-839c3a77b313Forgive my math but even I don't think that 15,700 KG or 34612.58 pounds or 17.31 US Tons is 90% of the 2200 tons they are claiming is produced.
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Comment #2 posted by Druid on August 15, 2004 at 13:52:59 PT
I also have a problem
with this statementAbout 90% of the commercial crop winds up in the U.S., With something like 40% of Canadians partaking in the herb I can't believe that they are only smoking up 10% of the commercial crop. Then again personal growers in Canada can be found in every other house on the street in some places.
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Comment #1 posted by Druid on August 15, 2004 at 13:49:30 PT
oi 
 "It's still a dangerous drug," says James Capra, the DEA's chief of domestic operations. "People are killing each other over it."
I would think that people are being killed for the money not the herb. Legalize it and do away with the violence. I know a few growers in Canada and it's not them that are causing problems. It's the vietnamese gangs that are fighting turf wars for MONEY that are causing the problems.
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