VANSTERDAM: CANADA'S MARIJUANA SMOKING MECCA

The commander of Vancouver's vice and drug squad believes the drug should
be legal.

Not an easy position for one of Canada's top cops. But Insp. Kash Heed
rarely does anything the easy way. "The prohibition of marijuana use has
been a failure," he says.

In 1991, Vancouver police busted 23 grow operations worth $2.6 million. In
2001 -- led by Heed, they took out 635 with a value of $160 million.

B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency estimates the pot industry at $6 billion
wholesale. That would make it the largest industry in the B.C., comparable
to logging's $5.6 billion. OCA estimates there are 25,000 provincial
operations employing up to 150,000 people, making marijuana one of the
province's biggest employers.

"It was British Columbia's problem for years but once the problem went east
of the Rockies, it became Canada's problem," Heed said. "Now they will
begin to see what we have been dealing with."

Pot smokers call B.C.'s biggest city Vansterdam, a reference to Holland's
marijuana utopia. Along West Hastings St., a string of "pot cafes" -- where
pot rather than caffeine is the drug of choice -- are probably Canada's
most visible sign of defiance against prohibition.

Last year, Vancouver was voted the world's best tourist destination for
marijuana smokers, according to High Times magazine. "You could walk down
the street (smoking pot) and no one bothers you," editor Dan Skye said.

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen," said Seattle's Ryan Gan,
22, in one of the cafes. "Here I am, allowed to smoke all the marijuana I
want without worrying about cops."

Vancouver cops call it de-facto decriminalization. Police in Ontario call
it giving up.

"I think in B.C. they've surrendered," Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino
said. "We're going to do what we can to fight the problems that come with
marijuana."

That makes Heed cringe. "I get accused of a lot of things, as any officer
does who takes a more liberal view of enforcement," Heed said. "It just
makes me stronger and makes me work harder to get policing to come into the
21st century."

A Sun-Leger poll shows 91% of British Columbians think marijuana laws
should be less stringent while 53% said they had smoked marijuana.

If the marijuana movement in B.C. is a revolution, its Che Guevara is Marc
Emery. He ran for mayor twice and is the president of the B.C. Marijuana
Party. He's also one of the world's biggest dealers in marijuana seeds and
will make, by his estimate, $3 million this year. He's been arrested 10
times and has lost his fortune many times over as authorities wiped him
out, collecting his proceeds of crime. He publishes Cannabis Culture
magazine and its website.

Emery started out selling bongs, pipes and growbooks. He helped other
stores open and although the items are still against the law, no one seems
to mind anymore. Soon he started selling seeds. His store was first raided
in 1996. Everything was seized. He re-opened the next day.

In 1997, he opened the Cannabis Cafe where he sold seeds and people could
smoke pot. He was found guilty of trafficking in seeds but has never
received a sentence more than a "fair fine. It just wasn't worth it for
them to keep arresting me," Emery said. "As long I no longer owned anything
which could be taken away, getting arrested didn't matter."

He is dedicated to legalization and has helped fund most major court
challenges since 2000.

"Fighting marijuana is so easy for police officers," Emery said. "They get
to run in with explosions, SWAT teams and bullet-proof jackets to arrest
people holding garden hoses."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will soon open an office in
Vancouver to fight the export of B.C. Bud, which has gained mythic status.
The DEA claims it has a THC component of up to 25%, compared to the 2% of
1970s-era grass.

The RCMP says the average THC content of all samples analyzed since 1995 is
about 6%.

But people don't believe that. They are convinced B.C. produces the best
bud and that has steadied a strong demand in the U.S.

Most of B.C.'s marijuana is destined for the U.S., Heed said.

"Only 15% of the marijuana grown here is for domestic consumption.

"If you apply simple economic theory, you will understand people are going
to produce it, to supply that demand. They won't be stopped.

"The marijuana business is run like a Fortune 500 company."