BUD INC. MAKES HUMANIST CASE FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Before reading Ian Mulgrew's Bud Inc., if I had been asked what
Canada's most profitable agricultural product was, I probably would
have said something pedestrian like cattle or wheat. I would have
been wrong. According to the Vancouver Sun writer's 2005 non-fiction
work, the answer is, in fact, marijuana.

Bud Inc. is subtitled "Inside Canada's Marijuana Industry" and is
presented as a look at the economics of pot in Canada, an argument
for its legalization, and--perhaps most interestingly--as a way of
humanizing those involved with the sale and production of the plant.
While the book is promoted as being about business and economics,
don't let that scare you away. It's highly engaging, and all the
statistics used are easy to understand.

Mulgrew accomplishes this by tying the information he gathered on the
marijuana industry together through a narrative constructed from his
meetings and interviews with people he met while researching the
book. They range from well-known marijuana activist Marc Emery to
Mary Jean Dudson, better known as Watermelon, who owns a pot-friendly
nightclub.

Other colourful personalities help draw you into the surprisingly
complex world of marijuana production. Mulgrew works to bust the
misconception that this world is filled with criminals and gangsters,
and expose that it is instead populated by people who just want to be
able to grow and sell the crop they love, without being arrested for
it. Although many statistics are thrown at the reader, the growers
and sellers featured in Bud Inc. make the book truly eye-opening, and
their words and actions speak far louder than politics for the
legalization of marijuana.

Many of the statistics cited are quite shocking, like that Canadians
spend nearly $1.8 billion annually on cannabis and cannabis-related
products. The author frequently drops these easily remembered and
interesting factoids to keep the reader engaged.

Unfortunately, Bud Inc. is not without its faults. Mulgrew
occasionally goes off on short tangents, or too often jumps between
his central narrative and background information. This makes the book
seem choppy in places. It can be easy to get distracted and lose
track of what Mulgrew is talking about. Ultimately, this is a minor
distraction in an otherwise fascinating book.

Bud Inc. atypically presents the marijuana industry in Canada as a
very real and legitimate entity. If you've already made up your mind
one way or the other about the debate, Bud Inc. may not change your
opinion--but I guarantee it will give you something to think about.