Pubdate: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Meagan Fitzpatrick and Ethan Baron, CanWest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) FROM B.C. BUD TO 'BUDDER' AND 'CHEESE': DRUG TRADE KEEPS GROWING Organized crime is fuelling the drug trade in Canada, with increasingly sophisticated gangs branching out to produce more potent and lethal drugs with names like "budder" and "cheese," an RCMP intelligence report reveals. And at the centre is British Columbia, a production and transshipment hub in the worldwide trade in illegal drugs, says the head of criminal analysis for the RCMP's Pacific region. According to the RCMP's Drug Situation Report 2006, released yesterday, criminal organizations have grown from one-drug shops into sophisticated multi-commodity trafficking rings. This includes new techniques and the blending of drugs to make them more potent or addictive, the report notes. In particular, police are concerned about two new innovations: "budder"and "cheese." Budder, which emerged in Vancouver in 2004, is made by whipping air into hashish oil and freezing it. It has THC levels ranging from 82 per cent to 99.6 per cent and is much more potent when smoked than regular marijuana. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant. Cheese -- described as a concoction of heroin and nighttime cold medicine -- is being blamed for more than a dozen deaths, mostly teenagers, in the U.S. It is inexpensive to make and easier than heroin to smoke or snort rather than inject. The cannabis market, which includes marijuana and hashish, is flourishing in Canada, according to the RCMP report. Statistics Canada however, reported a decrease of four per cent in cannabis-related offences in 2006. The RCMP study said there has been a decline of pot seizures in B.C. since 2003 but that numbers in Ontario and Quebec remain stable. Those three provinces are responsible for 90 per cent of the marijuana grown in Canada. The report noted emerging trends in 2006 in the marijuana market. Among them, it found that crime groups are producing more potent marijuana and that there's a shift toward using private aircraft for smuggling between B.C. and the U.S. B.C.'s long-established marijuana economy has created networks now used to expand the trade in other drugs, making the province a trafficking hub, adds Allan Castle, the head of criminal analysis for the RCMP's Pacific region. The same qualities that make the Vancouver area a centre for international trade in legitimate goods are now enriching criminals who trade in illegal products, he said, noting the multi-ethnic population provides links around the world. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake