Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2010
Source: Grand Forks Gazette (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Grand Forks Gazette
Contact:  http://www.grandforksgazette.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/525
Note: The newspaper does not have an active website.
Page: 6
Section: Weekender
Author: Jim Holtz

GRAND FORKS IN NATION'S SPOTLIGHT

Boundary-Based Doc Cracks Truths Of 'Cannabiz'

Next Thursday, Jan. 28 at 9 p.m., Grand Forks will be front and 
centre across Canada in a CBC Doc Zone documentary called CannaBiz.

Promotional material by the film's producer, Omni Film Productions 
Ltd., call CannaBiz "the inside story of Canada's secret $20 billion 
dollar marijuana industry."

Indeed, according to Lionel Goddard, the film's director, it is the 
economic aspect of the marijuana question that needs to be told.

"What I tried to do with this film was steer it away from the moral 
debate," Goddard said. Instead Goddard hopes that his film will get 
people talking about the economic reality.

"Here is a town (Grand Forks) grappling with the issue. And from the 
standpoint of not whether it is good or bad, but this is a reality. 
Marijuana is part of our local economy. How can you pretend that your 
largest resource industry doesn't exist?"

Grand Forks Mayor Brian Taylor agrees, though he was quick to point 
out the inaccuracy of some of the promotional material generated for 
the film which said that he was "campaigning for medical marijuana as 
a prescription for economic recovery."

"I see more of it as the recognition of the economic impact and our 
need to address that in our community," says Taylor.

Grand Forks resident Mel Bell, who appears in the film because of his 
past connection with the industry, has his own take on the economic reality.

"It's part of our culture. When you have a high period in the 
economy, people grow pot; if you have a low time in the economy, 
people grow pot. It has always been around for thousands of years. It 
has always been there; it always will be there."

Bell believes that the forces behind the current prohibition of the 
drug are also largely economic. Pharmaceutical companies, alcohol 
companies, indeed everyone selling the growers supplies are in favour 
of keeping the price high, he says, because that results in increases 
of profits for everyone.

Goddard has a similar take.

"All that (prohibition and increased criminal penalties) is going to 
do is raise the price and increase the incentive for those who are 
willing to go in and take the risk. It's the tax payers who are 
paying the risk premium for this.

"Another hypocrisy is that we have an increasingly legalized market 
for it," Goddard adds, "and we have an increasingly criminalized 
production of the product. So you have a legal demand and an illegal 
supply, and that's just a recipe for organized crime to move in."

Where Bell and Goddard disagree is the extent of organized crime in 
the industry.

Bell believes that small, backyard grow operations are still the main 
part of the marijuana culture.

Goddard disagrees.

"The ma and pa operations are starting to disappear. It's 
capitalisim, The industry is falling into the hands of fewer and 
fewer people and the nature of organized crime is that it is organized."

Both Bell and Taylor hope that the film will present a fair and 
accurate picture of both themselves and the community.

"I believe that CBC said there was a potential for nine million 
viewers We couldn't pay for the advertising we are going to get," says Taylor.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart