TIGHTER BORDER PUSHES POT PRICES DOWN IN PROVINCE

Marijuana prices are plummeting in B.C. as post-9/11 border security
is making it harder for smugglers to move B.C. bud to the U.S.

The pot glut has cut the price of high-grade weed from $2,500 a pound
to $2,000, and lower-grade marijuana from $1,500 to $1,200, said
Staff-Sgt. Chuck Dou-cette, the RCMP's Pacific Region drug-awareness
co-ordinator.

"It's harder to export than it used to be," he said. "There's not
enough market in Canada to support all that pot. Initially you're
going to have stockpiles, then the price is going to go down."

Doucette said police started hearing about the price decline about a
week ago, from "people in the business."

Pot smugglers have been caught in the enforcement curtain put up after
the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said Mike Milne, spokesman for U.S.
Customs and Border Protection.

"When Sept. 11 hit, our U.S. Congress was very generous in terms of
appropriating and authorizing new technologies and new resources. In
some places, U.S. border patrol tripled its presence on the
U.S./Canada border," Milne said.

"It's really enhanced our narcotics-fighting efforts."

Last year, U.S. authorities seized 295 loads of marijuana totalling
9,286 kilograms from smugglers entering from B.C., compared with 249
loads totalling 6,544 kg the year before, he said.

International Border Enforcement Teams of RCMP, Canada Customs and
U.S. border-enforcement staff have also cut the traffic, he said.

"By joining forces and playing together it really allowed these
agencies to be more than the sum of their parts."

On Monday, U.S. White House drug czar John Walters visited Seattle to
raise awareness about higher levels of THC in marijuana, and to warn
people about powerful B.C. bud smuggled in from Canada.