SLUMPING GREENBACK GOES TO POT

VANCOUVER -- The strong Canadian dollar has hit the illegal marijuana
sector just as it has other industries that export to the United
States, one of Canada's best known legalization advocates said yesterday.

But western marijuana growers have also benefited from Canada's
strong economy, especially the booming Alberta oil patch, which has
increased domestic consumption, according to Marc Emery, a founder of
the British Columbia Marijuana Party.

The Canadian dollar touched parity with the U.S. dollar last week,
topping a rise of some 60 per cent over the past five years.
Yesterday, the loonie closed at 99.86 U.S. cents.

A stronger loonie has cut the profit of selling potent "B.C. Bud"
marijuana in U.S. markets at a time when producers in Canada struggle
with tighter border security and competition in the United States
with pot from other sources.

Top quality Canadian pot is selling for $3,700 a pound in the United
States, compared with $2,400 in domestic markets, according to Mr.
Emery, who is also editor of Cannabis Culture magazine and is
fighting extradition to the United States.

"When you factor in all the risk and transportation, that [higher
export price] is not a big deal any more," Mr. Emery said, adding
that when the Canadian dollar was weak exporters could double their
money selling into the United States.

U.S. authorities seized 26,414 kilograms of marijuana in northern
border states in 2005 compared with 11,546 kg. in 2001, according to
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's latest National Drug
Threat Assessment.

A study in 2004 estimated the street value of British Columbia's
annual marijuana crop at more than $7-billion, which would make it
one of the western Canadian province's largest industries.

Simon Fraser University economics professor Stephen Easton, who wrote
the 2004 report, said there has been no specific study of the impact
of currency on drug exports but it should be the same as with legal exports.