Pubdate: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Eugene Oscapella Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) CANADA MINOR MARIJUANA SUPPLIER Re: Grow-op arrests cropping up less, April 5. Your article quotes Det. Rob Muscat of the Peel Region police morality bureau as saying, "We're the No. 1 source of marijuana into the U.S." This is utter nonsense. The available evidence, including reports from the Auditor-General of Canada, the RCMP, the U.S. and the United Nations, have all found just the opposite -- that Canada is, in fact, only a minor supplier of cannabis to the U.S. The most recent report produced by Canadian and American government agencies concluded that Canadian-produced marijuana accounts for only about 2 per cent of overall U.S. marijuana seizures at its borders. As a November 2002 RCMP report noted , "The United States is basically its own main source of marijuana." Eugene Oscapella Lecturer in Drug Policy, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa Co-founder, Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman