Like they would restrict their usage to home.They don't now.
Posted on 12/22/2004 1:56:04 AM PST by Gorons
Time, August 23, 2004 v164 i8 p36 This Bud's For The U.S. Canada's relaxed drug laws may be fueling a boom in marijuana exports to America. (Society/Crime) Anita Hamilton. Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2004 Time, Inc.
Byline: Anita Hamilton Reported by Ben Bergman/Blaine, Laura Blue/New York, Chris Daniels/Toronto, Deborah
It was the bus driver who noticed something suspicious. According to school officials, a driver for Blaine High School in northwestern Washington State thought something was strange about students' carrying unusually full bags to school and then never taking them back home. He alerted U.S. authorities, who boarded the bus on the morning of Feb. 20 and allegedly found 8 lbs. of marijuana, valued at $25,000, hidden inside a teenage girl's backpack. Prosecutors allege that the minor, 16, was getting paid $300 a trip to work as a drug mule for smugglers moving marijuana into the U.S. from Canada. The teen's home, in Point Roberts, Wash., borders British Columbia in an area with relatively light border patrol, which would have made it easy for her to get the drugs from Canada before getting on the bus.
Expelled from school and charged with possessing marijuana with intent to deliver, the girl has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 23 in Bellingham, Wash. Deputy prosecutor Thomas Verge has said he will probably ask for an exceptionally long sentence that would put the teen behind bars until her 21st birthday. The controversy has upset the community. "She was a wonderful young girl," says her principal, Dan Newell. "I wouldn't have ever thought that if anyone was going to haul marijuana across the border, it would be this lady."
Nor would anyone have thought that the cross-border traffic of illegal drugs would become one of the knottiest areas of disagreement between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. An estimated 880 to 2,200 tons of marijuana are grown in Canada, according to a new report from Canadian police. About 90% of the commercial crop winds up in the U.S., where its street value ranges from $5 billion to $25 billion. Although only 5% of pot in the U.S. comes from Canada, the trade is flourishing because of high demand in the U.S. and the comparatively mild punishments in Canada for growers and traffickers.
The U.S. seized more than 48,000 lbs. of marijuana along the Canadian border last year, nearly double the 26,000 lbs. it retrieved in 2002, according to a U.S. State Department report. There have been seizures all along the border, in Montana, North Dakota, Michigan, Ohio and other states. Canadian pot has cachet in the U.S. because of its reputation for being especially potent. The featured brand is BC Bud--which is grown in British Columbia and has become synonymous with the high-grade marijuana grown throughout Canada. Once in the U.S., the pot is exchanged for cash, and sometimes cocaine or guns, which are then smuggled back to Canada.
Although the actual potency of BC Bud varies from batch to batch, depending on how it's grown, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that as much as 25% of BC Bud is made of the psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In contrast, the pot that the hippie generation smoked in the 1970s had only 2% THC content, and most pot consumed in the U.S. today averages about 7% THC.
White House drug czar John Walters blames BC Bud in part for the increased number of pot-related emergency room incidents, which have more than doubled, from 54,000 in 1996 to 119,000 in 2002. Those incidents range from accidents and injuries to unexpected reactions to the drug. "Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana," Walters told reporters in April. Others dispute Walters' claims. "Domestic American marijuana is probably a little bit better," says Richard Stratton, editor in chief of High Times, a magazine that covers marijuana issues. But the BC Bud name is so well regarded that some dealers pass off other varieties as Canadian to fetch the $3,000-to-$10,000-per-lb. price. And BC Bud seems to be everywhere. "It's hella easy to get," says "Angelo," 22, a Seattle resident who asked to be identified by a pseudonym. "You can usually go to [a convenience store] between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. and ask people who you think smoke bud," he says.
On the Canadian side, the drug is even more ubiquitous. At the popular New Amsterdam Cafe in downtown Vancouver, customers openly smoke marijuana. "People come with pot. We are a business, though, so we have a $2 minimum cafe charge [for snacks and drinks]," says cafe manager Scott Heardy. Inspector David Nelmes, who is in charge of drugs for the Vancouver police department, tells TIME, "I can't remember the last time a member of the Vancouver police department arrested someone for smoking a joint. Frankly, who's got time?" If passed within the year, as seems likely, new Canadian legislation would decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana, meaning that offenders would be slapped with only the equivalent of a traffic ticket. That approach is a far cry from the one that is taken in U.S. states like Oklahoma, where a person caught smoking dope could get up to a year in prison, although probation is more common.
Canada's attitude toward small-scale toking up has led some U.S. officials to blame the northerners for the influx of BC Bud in America. "If the perception is that it will be easier to get marijuana in Canada ... then it creates problems at the border," Paul Cellucci, U.S. ambassador to Canada, said at a Toronto Board of Trade dinner in February. Indeed, the trade has led to an increase in drive-by shootings in Canada by rival dealers, and to "grow-rips," in which competing clans break into growers' houses to steal their crops, according to Canadian police. The body of the suspected ringleader of a trafficking group was found stabbed in the neck in a ditch in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in November 2002. "It's still a dangerous drug," says James Capra, the DEA's chief of domestic operations. "People are killing each other over it."
Currently, a grower in Canada who has been convicted can expect less than two years of house arrest and a trafficker anywhere from three months to five years, served either at home or in prison, compared with the minimum punishment of five to 10 years that most convicted traffickers and growers receive in U.S. federal court. But as the violence has increased and cultivation of the crop has moved into residential areas, Canada has begun cracking down on its estimated 50,000 commercial pot growers. Over the past four years, police in Vancouver have seized $288 million worth of marijuana and $8.7 million worth of growing equipment. In Barrie, Ont., in January, police confiscated 30,000 marijuana plants, worth $23 million, inside a former Molson brewery.
One hot, muggy morning in July, a TIME reporter accompanied the Vancouver police as an officer thumped on the door of a two-story brick-and-panel house on a leafy street of manicured lawns. Inside, officers discovered a basement filled wall to wall with more than 300 glossy female cannabis bushes. That bust is pretty routine, but the BC Bud keeps flowing. In the past four years, Vancouver police have made more than 1,500 others, or about one a day.
--Reported by Ben Bergman/Blaine, Laura Blue/New York, Chris Daniels/Toronto, Deborah Jones/Vancouver and Elaine Shannon/Washington
[QUOTE:]
"Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana." --JOHN WALTERS, White House drug czar
Article A120683522
Did we get serious in 1979 under Jimmy Carter, when drug use began its decline?
Did we get unserious after the creation of a cabinet level drug czar in 1989, when drug use began to rise after falling for 10 years?
Like they would restrict their usage to home.They don't now.
It reached its peak halfway through Jimmy Let's-Federally-Decriminalize-Marijuana Carter's term, yes.
And it continued to fall until the events at Waco, Texas. What does Waco, Texas have to do with the low point in drug use? Absolutely nothing, the same as elevating the WOD to cabinet level.
You sure do have a weird way of connecting events.
"assuming the goal is to reduce supply."
Assuming that were the goal.
"The rates of mj use in the Netherlands is in the same ballpark as the US"
Is that a valid comparrison? Could there be cultural differences? Can I then compare the rates of mj use in Singapore? Tanzania? China?
But keep in mind that we tried that once -- 13 short years later it was repealed.
I'm sure living in Alaska is reason enough to be stoned as much as possible.
Probably a lot of drinking going on too.
So you're one of those who wants to regulate what an adult is allowed to do in the privacy of their home?
Funny, you don't LOOK like a fascist.
A line from the movie Roadhouse poped into my head.."Opinions vary"
Hard to explain then why Alaskan teen marijuana used dropped to the national average when marijuana was made illegal again.
"So you're one of those who wants to regulate what an adult is allowed to do in the privacy of their home?"
No, I'm one of those who wants to regulate what an adult is allowed to do anywhere.
You don't? Funny, you don't LOOK like an anarchist.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
It reached its peak halfway through Jimmy Let's-Federally-Decriminalize-Marijuana Carter's term, yes.
Yep, if you're going to claim "getting serious" caused the decline, then Jmmy Carter gets credit for the onset of the 10 year decline.
And it continued to fall until the events at Waco, Texas. What does Waco, Texas have to do with the low point in drug use? Absolutely nothing, the same as elevating the WOD to cabinet level.
The WOD was elevated to cabinet level status to better fight the WOD. If demand increases after falling for 10 years and supply explodes, it's a failure.
Let's look at a chart of marijuana "Past Month" use so you know exactly where I'm coming from:
First of all, marijuana use fell 65% in the period from 1979 to 1993. It then remained relatively flat for 8 years. It is up slightly (NOT explosively) in the last few years.
Why is it up? My guess is that the increased calls for medical marijuana and decriminalization have a lot to do with it, just as it did in Jimmy Carter's days.
I'm in disguise. It must be working.
and this where I leave this thread.
MY behavior, in MY home, is none of your damn business, as long as I don't infringe upon the rights of others. Which I don't.
See the tagline.
Why pick 1993? The vast majority of the fall had already occured by 1989, when Dr. William J. Bennett became the first cabinet level drug czar.
"My office is already conducting an exhaustive review of our national fight against drugs on both supply and demand sides." --Dr.Bennett, March 1989.
Did the WOD succeed in curbing supply or demand over the last 15 years?
That is correct.
But when you come knocking on my door to ask me to legalize and legitimate what you're doing in your home, then you're making it my damn business.
If you say so. Actually, I never bothered to look it up. Where did you get your information?
And even if the supply increased 100-fold, if nobody's smoking it, who cares?
"Why pick 1993?"
That was the lowest point (4.6%). Usage was 6.2% in 1988 and 5.4% in 1990 (no data for 1989.)
"The vast majority of the fall had already occured by 1989, when Dr. William J. Bennett became the first cabinet level drug czar."
Yes indeedy. Your point being?
"Did the WOD succeed in curbing supply or demand over the last 15 years?"
I've been quoting a figure averaging 5% of the population using marijuana over the last 15 years. I would expect the supply to increase to keep up with the growth in population. If there was an explosive growth in supply, it hasn't been reflected in the number of users.
Either that "explosive growth" is sitting around getting moldy, or current users are smoking more. But I would like to see your numbers.
Mostly from the WOD people. Walters talks about the high potency mj menace and record seizures are taking place. If demand is rising and prices are not falling, it is an indication of an increasing supply.
The vast majority of the fall had already occured by 1989, when Dr. William J. Bennett became the first cabinet level drug czar."
Yes indeedy. Your point being?
The point being, drugs were deemed enough of a national menace in 1989 to begin a cabinet level effort to fight them. The WOD failed in its stated purpose to curb supply and demand.
I've been quoting a figure averaging 5% of the population using marijuana over the last 15 years. I would expect the supply to increase to keep up with the growth in population. If there was an explosive growth in supply, it hasn't been reflected in the number of users.
Perhaps the demand is being met?
An explosive supply? That's the info I'm looking for.
As I said, even if the usage were flat at 5%, an increased population would automatically increase the demand.
Baloney. Drug use was falling, and had been falling, since 1979. It even continued to fall from 1989 to 1993. It then stayed flat for another 8 years.
I don't see any significance, one way or the other, of the formation of a 1989 cabinet position.
Baloney. Drug use was falling, and had been falling, since 1979. It even continued to fall from 1989 to 1993. It then stayed flat for another 8 years.
MJ use fell from about 13% down to the 5% range by 1989 and remained mostly flat since then, with a slight recent rise. Heroin addiction rose 50% from 1992-1999. You don't have enough lipstick to make that pig look pretty.
I don't see any significance, one way or the other, of the formation of a 1989 cabinet position.
The drug problem was deemed important enough in 1989 to create a new cabinet position, with much fanfare, and you don't consider it significant? OK.
These "scumbags" are human beings that like to smoke a naturally occurring herb, placed on Earth by God Himself, and given for mankind their use (Genesis 2:29,30. This would mean God deals in "drugs". Is God a "scumbag", sweetiepie?
The vast majority are there for cannabis. Opium derivatives are advertised but cannabis is busted, along with some for opium derivatives. The reason for this is simple commonsense; opium derivatives take up small spaces and are smuggled more efficiently and safe from detection, where cannabis takes up much spaces and is easy to detect. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
The federal budget is about $2 trillion. The federal WOD is about $20 billion (ie., 1%).
But we were discussing the percentage of money used in the WOD for cannabis persecution, not the percentage of the WOD budget of the federal budget. Remember? The issue was if insane clown posse of the DEA would still exit as such without the cannabis star chamber.
Under the 2003 WOD budget, a number of enforcement agencies were included. This skews the "supply/demand" budget split to 2/3 - 1/3. The 2004 WOD budget transfers some of the enforcement budget to other federal agencies, resulting in a "supply/demand" budget split of about 50-50. This restructuring (detailed in the link) also reduces the ONDCP budget from $20 billion to $12 billion. The largest reduction, $5 billion, came from the removal of 10 accounts in the DOJ, the largest of which, $3 billion, was for the incarceration of federal prisoners.
So, what this alphabet soup means is DEA uses it's budget for investigation, sting operations, and the due process chain all the way to conviction but transfers it to other agencies, but still the DEA's budget.
Again, if cannabis were to vanish from the Schedule, and all cannabis related activities, including in foreign countries, were to cease, the DEA would effectively lose the greater part of it budget and the greatest part of it's power.
As I said, our esteemed drug czar would have to seek greener federal pastures for his livelihood and arrogance.
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