USA Today Recycles A July
Story About BC Marijuana Being Traded
Pound For Pound For Coke;
It Was Prohibitionist Non-Sense Then, And It Still Is.
(Marijuananews note: This is an embarrassingly
bad example of a newspaper literally parroting prohibitionist propaganda. This line
started appearing in the Canadian and DEAland papers last year. USA Today picked up same
party line in an article last July. Almost nothing here is accurate, and it is not even
news, just the same old "the narcs told us, so it must be true" crap. There is
no nice way to put it.)
See
Now USA Today Is
Parroting The DEA Line That Canadian Marijuana
Is Swapped "Pound For Pound For Cocaine"From USA TODAY
http://survey.usatoday.com/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi
(Marijuananews note: Readers should challenge USA Today to have
higher journalistic standards.)
http://www.usatoday.com/
January 13, 1999
NEW MARIJUANA STRAIN BOOSTS DRUG TRADE
A new grade of marijuana grown in British Columbia is so potent it is being traded
pound-for-pound for cocaine in the United States, U.S. and Canadian authorities say.
(Marijuananews note: What is the evidence for this? Have there been any court cases in
which the prosecution has been able to extort testimony supporting this? It just does not
make any sense. Undoubtedly, some of the cocaine in Canada may come through DEAland, but I
challenge anyone to produce evidence that there is a regular pound for pound barter for
marijuana of any size.
First, the price of cocaine and marijuana will vary independently of one another.
Second, why barter anything on a regular basis? Both countries have hard currencies,
which are freely exchangeable for all sorts of goods and services. The only way that this
makes any sense is that prohibition puts marijuana and cocaine in the same distribution
channels to a degree. Most marijuana users do not want cocaine, although many cocaine
users will need marijuana.)
See
"Here, if you want
cannabis you go to a coffee shop.
In other countries if you want it you have to go to a man who might try to sell you heroin
or cocaine as well."
The drug trade is prompting concerns among law enforcement officials who have seen drug
seizures and arrests soar.
Marijuana smuggling arrests along the border of British Columbia and Washington state
have risen from six people in 1995 to 358 in 1998. Seizures of the marijuana, nicknamed
"B.C. Bud," have risen from less than 10 pounds to 2,613 pounds during the same
period, Customs officials say.
(Marijuananews note: To put this in perspective, in 1997, the Border
Patrol seized 113,272 pounds of marijuana in McAllen, Texas, alone.)
Although the statistics are modest when compared with other drug seizures, authorities
say they are fearful of the destructive potential the newly invigorated drug trade could
have in the Northwest.
B.C. Bud is the No. 1 drug being smuggled into the United States
from British Columbia.
(Marijuananews note: What else would be smuggled in?
Marijuana is the only contraband at which the Canadians have a competitive advantage, i.e.
less insane laws, which suggests that the purpose of this prohibitionist propaganda is to
get the Canadian government to wreck the lives of more of its citizens.)
See
How the
Canadian Prohibitionists Equate Marijuana And Cocaine In the New Party Line
Authorities in British Columbia say cocaine obtained by Canadian drug dealers in
exchange for the marijuana has begun fueling a fledgling crack cocaine trade north of the
border.
(Marijuananews note: Bringing Canadian marijuana into DEAland
encourages cocaine use in Canada? Is this a new "gateway" theory?)
"The real significance of B. C. Bud is this circular pattern it’s created
with cocaine," U.S. Customs Director Raymond Kelly says.
(Marijuananews note: If this were true, it would be completely a function of marijuana
prohibition, not something inherent in marijuana.)
Cpl. Brian Hall of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s drug awareness section in
British Columbia says the marijuana appeared in the Vancouver area in the mid-1980s.
Canadian authorities estimate there are 3,500 to 5,000 indoor growing operations in the
Vancouver area alone. They produce an illegal crop worth $600 million a year.
The marijuana is grown inside with the use of artificial lights. "You can control
the growing conditions, the nutrients, the lighting and the temperature," says Dave
Rodriguez, director of a Seattle-based task force of state and federal agencies created by
the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "You can get a much better product."
The chemical in marijuana that produces the euphoria and sense of
relaxation is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Mexican marijuana, which is the most
common, has a THC level of about 5% in a plant. The THC level in B.C. Bud is about 25%,
and authorities say they have found plants with levels as high as 30%.
(Marijuananews note: It is quite clear from the phrasing that the statement that
"the THC level in B. C. Bud is about 25%" is a purported average, and this is
absolute, complete and total nonsense, pure prohibitionist propaganda. What is the source
of this data? How many samples were taken?
See
Marijuana
Prohibition And Potency, Price, And Safety --
"Is Marijuana Stronger Than It Was Back In the '60s, When Everyone Thought It Was
Harmless?"
Analysis By Richard Cowan
According to NIDA the average THC level in contraband marijuana in the US is around 3%. It
has been around that level for 20 years. Mexican commercial would therefore tend to be
somewhat below that, although it makes up the bulk of the market. The average Dutch
cannabis grown indoors is around 8% to 9% THC. So how does B. C. Bud get to be so potent?
It isn’t, but if it were it would not matter.)
See
Remarkably
Intelligent Article In The Toronto Star
Looks Beyond Prohibitionist Propaganda About Marijuana Potency
and
The
Prohibitionists In Stockholm Reveal The Shocking Truth
About The Potency Of Dutch Marijuana
In addition, the British Columbia-grown marijuana costs about $1,500 a pound in
Vancouver and $7,000 a pound in southern California. Mexican marijuana goes for about $600
a pound.
(Marijuananews note: Just how did they obtain that data? The same
way they got the THC numbers? By taking the DEA’s word for it? In any case,
contraband markets are notoriously inefficient.)
Hall says the marijuana growing operations are spreading in Canada. That is causing
concern because the border between the United States and Canada is nearly 4,000 miles long
and open, unlike the Mexican border.
See
Everyone Is A Suspect
At US/Canadian Border As Customs Searches For Marijuana --
Another Cost of Prohibition
By Gary Fields, USA TODAY
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