Pubdate: Wed, 30 Apr 2003
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 The Calgary Sun
Contact:  http://www.fyicalgary.com/calsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Jason Botchford

VANSTERDAM: CANADA'S MARIJUANA SMOKING MECCA

The commander of Vancouver's vice and drug squad believes the drug should 
be legal.

Not an easy position for one of Canada's top cops. But Insp. Kash Heed 
rarely does anything the easy way. "The prohibition of marijuana use has 
been a failure," he says.

In 1991, Vancouver police busted 23 grow operations worth $2.6 million. In 
2001 -- led by Heed, they took out 635 with a value of $160 million.

B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency estimates the pot industry at $6 billion 
wholesale. That would make it the largest industry in the B.C., comparable 
to logging's $5.6 billion. OCA estimates there are 25,000 provincial 
operations employing up to 150,000 people, making marijuana one of the 
province's biggest employers.

"It was British Columbia's problem for years but once the problem went east 
of the Rockies, it became Canada's problem," Heed said. "Now they will 
begin to see what we have been dealing with."

Pot smokers call B.C.'s biggest city Vansterdam, a reference to Holland's 
marijuana utopia. Along West Hastings St., a string of "pot cafes" -- where 
pot rather than caffeine is the drug of choice -- are probably Canada's 
most visible sign of defiance against prohibition.

Last year, Vancouver was voted the world's best tourist destination for 
marijuana smokers, according to High Times magazine. "You could walk down 
the street (smoking pot) and no one bothers you," editor Dan Skye said.

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," said Seattle's Ryan Gan, 
22, in one of the cafes. "Here I am, allowed to smoke all the marijuana I 
want without worrying about cops."

Vancouver cops call it de-facto decriminalization. Police in Ontario call 
it giving up.

"I think in B.C. they've surrendered," Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino 
said. "We're going to do what we can to fight the problems that come with 
marijuana."

That makes Heed cringe. "I get accused of a lot of things, as any officer 
does who takes a more liberal view of enforcement," Heed said. "It just 
makes me stronger and makes me work harder to get policing to come into the 
21st century."

A Sun-Leger poll shows 91% of British Columbians think marijuana laws 
should be less stringent while 53% said they had smoked marijuana.

If the marijuana movement in B.C. is a revolution, its Che Guevara is Marc 
Emery. He ran for mayor twice and is the president of the B.C. Marijuana 
Party. He's also one of the world's biggest dealers in marijuana seeds and 
will make, by his estimate, $3 million this year. He's been arrested 10 
times and has lost his fortune many times over as authorities wiped him 
out, collecting his proceeds of crime. He publishes Cannabis Culture 
magazine and its website.

Emery started out selling bongs, pipes and growbooks. He helped other 
stores open and although the items are still against the law, no one seems 
to mind anymore. Soon he started selling seeds. His store was first raided 
in 1996. Everything was seized. He re-opened the next day.

In 1997, he opened the Cannabis Cafe where he sold seeds and people could 
smoke pot. He was found guilty of trafficking in seeds but has never 
received a sentence more than a "fair fine. It just wasn't worth it for 
them to keep arresting me," Emery said. "As long I no longer owned anything 
which could be taken away, getting arrested didn't matter."

He is dedicated to legalization and has helped fund most major court 
challenges since 2000.

"Fighting marijuana is so easy for police officers," Emery said. "They get 
to run in with explosions, SWAT teams and bullet-proof jackets to arrest 
people holding garden hoses."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will soon open an office in 
Vancouver to fight the export of B.C. Bud, which has gained mythic status. 
The DEA claims it has a THC component of up to 25%, compared to the 2% of 
1970s-era grass.

The RCMP says the average THC content of all samples analyzed since 1995 is 
about 6%.

But people don't believe that. They are convinced B.C. produces the best 
bud and that has steadied a strong demand in the U.S.

Most of B.C.'s marijuana is destined for the U.S., Heed said.

"Only 15% of the marijuana grown here is for domestic consumption.

"If you apply simple economic theory, you will understand people are going 
to produce it, to supply that demand. They won't be stopped.

"The marijuana business is run like a Fortune 500 company."
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MAP posted-by: Beth