MARIJUANA INDUSTRY THRIVES AFTER 9/11

Vancouver's multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry remains a bright
light in the provincial economy.

Police, pot advocates and academics agree the market has already
adjusted to post Sept. 11 security measures and the U.S. government's
renewed anti-drug campaign.

Steve Easton, an economist at Simon Fraser University speaking to the
Fraser Institute May 29 on the economics of B.C.'s marijuana trade,
said anecdotal evidence shows the industry has adapted to the new
border pressures.

"People are simply being more and more ingenious at solving the
problem," said Easton, who predicts the price of a pound of B.C. bud
will be listed on the commodity pages of daily newspapers in as
little as a decade.

The B.C. marijuana trade, currently estimated to be worth between $3
billion to $6 billion a year, is one of the three key export
generators in the province alongside the lumber industry-which has
just been hit with a 27.2 per cent U.S. tariff-and the struggling
tourism industry.

The trade is important because of the economic spin-offs. For every
crop harvested, Easton said, teams of trimmers are hired to remove
the leaves around the buds. The profits from U.S. sales are often
used for home and vehicle repairs and consumer items.

Marc Emery, a city mayoral candidate and operator of the world's
largest marijuana seed export business, said local growers stockpiled
pot immediately following Sept. 11 because it was so hard to find
smugglers willing to cross the border.

When the price of marijuana in the U.S. went up as a result-to about
$7,500 a pound in California and $12,000 a pound in New York-growers
were able to pay smugglers more and outfit them with high-tech gear
like night-vision goggles and global positioning satellites. (The
price for a pound of B.C. bud remains at between $2,500 to $3,000 in
the Lower Mainland.)

The GPS systems, which are worth about $300, are attached to the
marijuana and either dumped in the ocean or stashed in bushland just
over the border. The U.S. contacts then hone in on the coded GPS
signal and retrieve the drugs.

"It's only idiots trying to take the stuff through border crossings
now. Instead they are kayaking or hiking it over the border," said
Emery, adding the increased border security has simply made the pot
industry more lucrative for growers, smugglers and dealers.

Post-Sept. 11 security upgrades at Blaine and other Lower Mainland
border crossings have included additional staff and the installation
of video cameras along Zero Avenue covering the Blaine car and truck
crossing.

Emery said the only risk to the B.C. bud industry is that Americans
will start growing pot themselves because it's so lucrative. He said
growers of lower-grade pot are finding it harder to sell their wares
because smugglers will only take a risk on the highest-grade
indoor-grown pot.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency office re-opened
its Vancouver office, closed since the 1980s. The U.S. government has
also launched an advertising campaign linking the marijuana trade
with terrorism.