POT EXPORTS NOT APPRECIATED

PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. (CP) - The U.S. consul general for British Columbia
weighed in Wednesday on the flow of marijuana from the province to the
United States.

''We don't like it,'' said Luis Arreaga, who was in northern British
Columbia to address a private meeting. ''Two to three billion dollars in
marijuana goes south every year.''

He said U.S. government research shows a link between long-term brain
damage and marijuana use.

The trade harms Canada as well, he said, because illegal guns and harder
drugs flow back across the border in exchange for the marijuana.

The roll-over effect, said Arreaga, is damage to small business on both
sides of the border due to more stringent security measures. Arreaga also
spoke to the softwood lumber dispute that has simmered for years between
the two nations.

''Sawmills are closing in the U.S. due to technological changes and they
can't compete,'' he said.

Duties placed on Canadian lumber crossing the U.S. border were said to be
placed because B.C.'s royalty regime on trees was seen as an unfair subsidy.

He said his government wants to bridge the difference and bring the
affected parties together.

Despite media reports suggesting the softwood lumber dispute has damaged
relations between the two countries, he maintained ''this is not the case.''

He said both sides are eager to get on with the dispute issues because the
longer it takes, ''the more likely other businesses from around the globe
will make inroads on our markets.''