cannabisnews.com: Agents: Tighter Borders Won't Stop Flow of Drugs Agents: Tighter Borders Won't Stop Flow of Drugs Posted by FoM on October 29, 2001 at 06:57:55 PT By Joshua L. Weinstein Source: Portland Press Herald Mark Emery doesn't know much about terrorism. Marijuana is his game. From his headquarters in British Columbia, he sells seeds over the Internet. Ten seeds of Hypno — it used to be called Mindbender — go for $95 Canadian, $76 U.S.Having marijuana seeds shipped to the United States is risky and illegal, but lately, Emery has seen an increase in U.S. orders. Marijuana users here are worried, he explains. Worried about terrorism, yes, but worried, too, that increased border security will mean less marijuana will make it into this country from Canada, which exports high-quality cannabis, or from Mexico, which is known for inexpensive herb."Americans definitely believe that there will be a major marijuana shortage because of increased surveillance," he said. "Americans are ordering tons of seeds because they're scared."But, Emery says the drugs will continue making their way into this country.State and federal drug agents agree with him. They say that despite the tighter controls at the nation's borders, illegal drugs will keep coming in.Scott Pelletier of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency says that the supply may drop off temporarily because so many people are paying attention to border security."It's publicized," he said, "so some of the people that may routinely do tractor-trailer loads are going to think twice about it."Similarly, he says, some people who might carry small amounts of drugs aboard airplanes likely will stop doing that.But he says that since Sept. 11, the price of marijuana has remained about the same, which means the supply hasn't been affected."If the prices go up, usually that indicates that there is a shortage, or anticipates a shortage, and right now, we don't have any intelligence that the prices are any different than they have been," he said.Will Glaspy, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, agrees that the supply of foreign-produced marijuana is unlikely to be affected by the tighter border security."The drug trafficking organizations are pretty resourceful," he said. "You're talking an awful big border."The borders are patrolled by agents and by technology — heat detectors, video cameras, devices that can distinguish between creatures two-legged and four.Still, Glasby said, "drug trafficking organizations are resourceful enough that if there's an increase in security and they think that they will be compromised . . . they will adjust as needed to try to get their drugs to their customers."Emery explained: "When you're dealing with a 3,000-mile-long border that has five lakes and two oceans, it's easy to smuggle something in. You could put 10, 20 pounds in a kayak and kayak over. I know somebody — actually, they took 4 pounds — who did that." Emery noted that the border is mountainous, remote, huge and cold."I haven't met anybody that says their transport people have been compromised," he said, explaining that professionals don't use roads or airplanes, but rather use trails and lakes."Not only would you have to be able to detect somebody walking over in the middle of a national forest, but you'd need someone there to apprehend him," he said. POINTS OF ENTRY There are 12 official points of entry in Maine along the Canadian border: Bridgewater, Calais, Coburn Gore, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Hamlin/Van Buren, Houlton, Jackman, Limestone, Lubec, Madawaska and Vanceboro. Source: Portland Press Herald (ME)Author: Joshua L. Weinstein, Staff WriterPublished: Monday, October 29, 2001Copyright: 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.Contact: letters pressherald.comWebsite: http://www.portland.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Pot TVhttp://www.pot-tv.net/FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmIllegal Drug Flow Back Near Normal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11110.shtmlTight Border Security Slows Traffickinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10937.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by herbdoc215 on October 30, 2001 at 09:12:07 PT: Canaries and the myth of the week! Cannabis seeds contain an oil which canaries and several other birds MUST have in order to sing, so all the while of the ban on hemp in DEAland they have been importing hemp seeds from the orient. These hemp seeds are sterilized by irradiating them on importation. Radiation can and will kill seeds, the point is that are always one step ahead of cops because they recruit from the dregs of humanity and those who wish to have force over others(bullies) and there are many ways to sheild seeds so they remain viable. USA's dependance upon the free movement of mail to keep their subjects of their world empire in line and to facilitate the rape of their economies is their biggest weekness. This achillies heel is proving to Americans that their economy is hanging by a thread and the roughshod way they deal with the rest of the world is coming to light to humanity. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by 420toker on October 29, 2001 at 23:22:50 PT irradiation nah Electron beam radiation wont kill much, in fact I dont think it would affect the inside of an envelope or package at all, just the outside. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by mayan on October 29, 2001 at 16:22:42 PT Can't Stop It!!! The narcs can't even keep drugs out of prison! How can they keep them out of our country? There is more good nug around now than ever! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 29, 2001 at 11:53:02 PT Thanks JR I guess there will always be enough seeds from inside the states or at least there should be. Probably the only way all mail would be subject to decontamination is if they find more cases of inhaled anthrax around the country but I think it is only a matter of time until cases start popping up. Look at this article from the BBC on Heroin.'Contaminated' Heroin Inquiry BeginsMonday, 29 October, 2001Infected heroin killed 23 drug users in ScotlandA Glasgow doctor has told a fatal accident inquiry how she was one of the first people to identify a bacterium which led to the deaths of 18 injecting drug users in the city. Dr Penelope Reading, a consultant microbiologist at Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow, told the inquiry how staff at her hospital first became aware of a possible bacteria outbreak among heroin users last May. The inquiry, which began at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday, heard how an outbreak management team was set up in Glasgow after two women were admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms. Complete Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/scotland/new [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by TroutMask on October 29, 2001 at 11:50:27 PT A couple other things If it does sterilize seed, is this the end of mail-order seeds of all (non-cannabis) kinds? Doubt it...If it does sterilize seed, we've created a new high-profit smuggling item: marijuana seeds! So seeds (which are apparently legal in Canada) will suddenly become worth 10 to 100 times their current value in the US. We'll have gangs fighting over bags of seeds. Beautiful...Not.-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 29, 2001 at 11:41:23 PT Hmm FoM, I'm not sure if irradiation would sterilize seeds or not - someone else'll have to answer that one - but I do know that the amount of machinery we have right now which could be used to irradiate the mail is not nearly enough to cover the entire country's mail supply. This morning on CNN, the CEO of the company that makes these machines was talking about just irradiating all the mail in the Washington DC area. And if it does sterilize them, and they do build enough machines to do it on a country-wide basis, then those people who take the cannabis over the border could certainly do well with seeds. Pound for pound, the seeds are much more expensive (by far!!) but they're also a much more limited market. But I'm sure someone could stick 100 seeds in a small separate container at the bottom of a hockey bag full of buds... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 29, 2001 at 08:27:01 PT Question Getting seeds in the mail is something I have no idea about but what will happen when they start using radiation to help protect us from Anthrax? Won't it hurt food and possibly seeds? I sure think it could sterilize them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 29, 2001 at 07:23:48 PT Terror or Drugs? We Can't Wage War on Both Source: National Post Author: Jonathan Kay Published: October 29, 2001 Buried in the back pages of Thursday's newspapers, behind tales of anthrax in the United States and woe in Afghanistan, was news that Britain may soon decriminalize marijuana. Under a proposal offered by David Blunkett, the country's Home Secretary, the drug would remain a controlled substance, but police would no longer arrest people who smoke or possess it. It is only a matter of time before Canada follows Mr. Blunkett's lead. Marijuana is not addictive and there does not exist a single documented instance of a death resulting from overdose. Yet 100 Canadians a day are arrested on simple marijuana possession charges -- an absurd waste of police resources. Once marijuana is decriminalized, perhaps Ottawa will take a serious look at its policies on harder drugs. Outright legalization may not be appropriate in all cases, but a rethinking of our criminal law certainly is.Even as our policies stand, however, Canada's Justice Department is miles ahead of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, whose campaign proceeds, despite endless failures, according to a military model. Every year, more than 600,000 Americans are arrested for simple marijuana possession. Under U.S. federal law, pot is classified as a "Schedule One" drug -- just like heroin and LSD. In 2000, the war on drugs cost the United States $35-billion -- more than three times what the federal government spent on programs to combat terrorism.War has always been a poor metaphor where the fight against drugs is concerned. For one thing, it invites lawmakers to pour billions into SWAT teams and prisons -- despite the fact drug treatment has been proven to be many times more cost-effective than enforcement and interdiction in reducing usage. Secondly, it dilutes the meaning of "war" by turning the word into a political abstraction. How foolish does all the chest-thumping about the "war on drugs" sound now that the United States has suffered massive casualties in a real war against a real military enemy?But the war on drugs is like a real war in at least one respect: It attracts an army of eager profiteers. Many of them are the terrorists and insurgents we are now watching on CNN. It is easy to whip uneducated teenagers into a righteous frenzy with fiery Marxist or Islamist rhetoric, but to keep them armed and fed you need cash. Afghanistan and Colombia, the world's leading producers of, respectively, heroin and cocaine, provide excellent examples. Both the Taliban regime and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would have been extinguished long ago if it were not for the revenues they have raised by taxing local drug farmers.Complete Article: http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20011029/759395.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment