WHAT'S REALLY FUELLING THIS ECONOMIC BOOM?

B.C. produces 40 per cent of Canada's pot, according to the World Drug
Report 2007, released this week by the United Nations.

In 2005, most of the world's pot was grown in the Americas (23 per
cent in North America and 23 per cent in Central and South America and
the Caribbean).

While Canada ranked behind the U.S. and Mexico -- which "may be the
world's largest cannabis herb producers" -- according to the report,
we're still known around the world for our B.C. bud.

And with just 13.1 per cent of Canada's population, according to 2004
figures, our 40-per-cent share of the nation's pot production adds up
to a lot of grow ops per capita.

Linking unrelated trends can be dangerous, as any statistician will
tell you, but we can't help but wonder how much of B.C.'s economic and
real estate booms are really due to our standing as national pot kings.

There's got to be some way all those people are affording all that
high-priced real estate -- the average B.C. house price reached a
record high of $454,945 in May, according to the Real Estate Weekly.

The paper quotes Cameron Muir, the B.C. Real Estate Association's
chief economist, crediting "(r)ising wages, low unemployment and
encouraging migration figures" for continued high housing demand.

But how strong would our economy be if grow ops -- and all the money
they generate both directly and indirectly -- were taken out of the
equation?

During Miami's "cocaine cowboy" days in the 1980s, South Florida's
economy was a bright spot in the U.S., with construction cranes
dominating the skyline and signs of prosperity everywhere. Other areas
were economically depressed.

During B.C.'s pot boom, real estate prices continue to climb
unbelievably high.

Coincidence? Maybe.