Free Republic

The strong Canadian dollar has hit the illegal marijuana sector just as it has other industries that export to the United States, one of Canada's best known legalization advocates said on Thursday. But western marijuana growers have also benefited from Canada's strong economy, especially the booming Alberta oil patch, which has increased domestic consumption, according to Marc Emery, a founder of the British Columbia Marijuana Party. The Canadian dollar touched parity with the U.S. dollar last week, topping a rise of some 60 percent over the past five years. On Thursday, it was still hovering around par, at C$1.0014 to...

Havre, Mont. – The "Ghost of Sin Ojos" is an illusive figure known all too well to the Border Patrol agents who prowl the rolling plains here under the big Montana sky, a shadowy visitor dressed in black with no eyes who moves unseen over a strip of land along the Canadian border known as the "Hi-Line." "I've never personally seen the ghost," said Border Patrol Senior Agent Larry D. Shields as he guided his four-wheel-drive vehicle along a dirt path near a barbed-wire fence that separates the United States and Canada. "But there's no doubt he's out here." There's...