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Book: Bud Inc: Inside Canada's Marijuana Industry

Author: Ian Mulgrew

Publisher: Random House Canada

Length: 304 pages

When I first heard Vancouver journalist Ian Mulgrew's voice on the
other end of the phone, it was gravelly and drawn out like that of a
West Coast hippie. I pictured a Willie Nelson stereotype with long
hair and a tie-dyed t-shirt.

However, when I turned to the back cover of his book, Bud Inc: Inside
Canada's Marijuana Industry I couldn't have been more wrong. With a dark
suit and a short haircut, Mulgrew smiles with an almost innocent stare.

Mulgrew's latest book is the result of his long-time fascination with
the marijuana industry. Now the legal affairs columnist at the
Vancouver Sun, he uses his contacts with key players, both political
and entrepreneurial, to gain further insight into the current pot
prohibition.

Mulgrew uses the parallel between the 1920s alcohol prohibition and
the current marijuana prohibition to argue for the latter's
legalization.

"Once booze became legal, those people who were specializing in the
illicit distribution and the production of alcohol became quite rich
and integrated into the community. You had a shrinking number of the
gangs and those who associated with them," says Mulgrew.

The idea is that if marijuana were legal, kids wouldn't want to smoke
it, organized criminals would become upstanding entrepreneurs and both
police and taxpayers would benefit from reduced criminal
investigations.

Statistics in the Netherlands, where cannabis cafes originated, show
that youth pot use is on the decline. Mulgrew attributes this to "the
Dutch having made marijuana boring . . . they look in the coffee shops
and there's no thrill and zing because they'd be sitting around with a
bunch of middle-aged dopers." Mulgrew predicts that Canadian youth
will follow this trend, and that opposing views in Canada are unfounded.

"I think that is what really is the heart of the anxiety and fear
people have about abandoning the criminal prohibition . . . the kids
will be exposed to greater harms rather than lesser harms, which is
what I am arguing," Mulgrew says.

Growing up in Abbotsford, B.C., the "grow-op" mecca, I have seen the
strong and often violent role organized crime plays in the marijuana
industry. The idea that once marijuana production is legalized,
organized criminals will simply become entrepreneurial citizens seems
idyllic at best.

With the elimination of a Canadian marijuana market, the U.S.
consumers will still be eager buyers. The competition of the Canadian
"entrepreneurs" for U.S. market share will increase.

Mulgrew, however, forecasts that the U.S. will follow our lead in
legalization efforts. George W. Bush's $35 million "War on Drugs"
doesn't faze him one bit. "Bush is gone soon," Mulgrew says, pointing
out that over a dozen states have more progressive marijuana
legislation than Canada does.

Canada's organized criminals may soon be out of both a Canadian and
American marijuana market, but not out of marketing drugs. What type
of future will Canadians have if the underground begins to push drugs
such as cocaine and crystal meth instead of pot?

Mulgrew says this is an exaggeration. "Those drugs have far less
appeal and they are niche markets. The recasting and re-marshalling of
resources will allow the police to more effectively combat organized
criminals," he says.

And I breathe a sigh of relief, not pot, at the proposition of
legalized marijuana. The children will not be harmed, organized crime
will be more effectively policed and taxpayers will even save money.
Maybe.

Many recent studies are beginning to demonstrate the positive aspects
of cannabis. A study by the University of Saskatchewan shows how
cannabis can actually increase your brain cells. Speculative at best,
especially since Mulgrew, the pro-pot authority, readily admits to
destroying his own brain cells.

But during our phone conversation he worries that the cell phone is
frying his brain. Between the cell phone and the pot, Mulgrew fondly
remembers writing for our very own Excalibur, but he can't remember
whether it was "back in 74 or 75 or 76 . . ."

"I can't remember that far back," he says, "I destroyed those brain
cells."