Pubdate: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC) Contact: http://www.nelsondailynews.com/ Author: Darren Davidson BOOK ON LOCAL DOPE CULTURE (FINALLY) HITS STORES The long-anticipated examination of the Kootenay marijuana industry by rookie author Drew Edwards has arrived in local bookstores. West Coast Smoke: The Inside Story of the B.C, Pot Boom (Warwick Publishing) is a 221-page overview of the marijuana industry, based on actual events and characters Edwards has reported on and encountered as managing editor of the Nelson Daily News. The book was delayed by publishing snafus for several months but has finally arrived in earnest. "It was hard because there has been tremendous local interest, but very few copies around. Finally, they're here," he says. The book is a historical, political and scientific pot play-by-play, a real-life snap shot of marijuana culture in small communities - Nelson and the Slocan Valley to be exact. Over two years, the 28-year-old author investigated and found what most West Kootenayites already know, but are either too straight-laced or too stoned to say: Pot - its cultivation, sale and consumption - is a large part of the local economy. "I think it's larger than a lot of people realize, and larger than a lot of people want to admit," Edwards says. While he is quick to note the area is not the national Mary Jane Mecca it is sometimes portrayed as, Edwards says Nelson is indeniably a cannabis culture anomaly. "It affects so many people in this community, in one way or another." The Carleton Journalism School grad interviewed more than 100 people - cops, couriers, growers, lawyers, tokers and jokers - but says sniffing out the more clandestine characters the book records wasn't tremendously difficult. While it "took a long time" to gain the trust of the law-dodging sources he located - "tape recorders make criminals uncomfortable" he laughs - Edwards says a number of key players simply fell into his lap. "You talk to people who know a guy, who knows a guy who knows a guy. I had my share of dumb luck." West Coast Smoke is built around two riveting drug sagas: the Nelson City Police Department's failed prosecution of The Holy Smoke Culture Shop and the twisted narcotic-related tale of Slocan Valley murderer Ken Hammond. The Holy Smoke scenario, says Edwards, allows readers to see both sides of the pot culture coin, by delving into the personalities of the shop's owners and the police officers involved in the ensuing trial. "It's a chance to look at people who immersed themselves in this culture, and to realize they are not necessarily Tommy Chong," says Edwards of the Holy Smoke crew. "It also went a long way to try and explain the thinking and mentality behind why the police think the way they do." The book details the careers of some of the RCMP and NCP officers involved, and the countless drug-related tragedies they've witnessed throughout lengthy careers on mean streets of major Canadian cities. West Coast Smoke also includes a summary of marijuana's global history, the shady political big business pressures that led to hemp's criminalization and hard scientific evidence regarding the plants medicinal characteristics and health threats. "It's hard to look at it and really feel that marijuana is the kind of evil that Nancy Reagan thinks it is," says Edwards. Despite West Coast Smoke's scenario of mountain maverick couriers, James Bond-style grow-ops and jackpot payouts, Edwards is adamant the book is not a call to arms for pot smokers nor a personal campaign to become a decriminalization poster child. "That's not what the book was intended for. And that's certainly not my personal opinion." His motivation from the start, he insists, was to write a book and tell both sides of a good story. "If there's a message in the book," says Edwards, "it's get all the necessary information you need to make an appropriate decision, then make it." - --- West Coast Smoke is available at Coles Bookstore in the Chako Mika Mall, Oliver's Books on Baker Street and The Holy Smoke Culture Shop on Herridge Lane. They can also be purchased and personalized by contacting the author directly at Edwards will be signing books at the Coles Bookstore on Sat. Dec. 23 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. - --- MAP posted-by: GD