Cannabis in British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
relates to a number of legislative, legal, and cultural events surrounding use and cultivation of cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Though the drug is illegal in Canada (with exceptions for medical uses
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
), its recreational use is often tolerated and is more commonplace in the province of BC as compared to most of the rest of the country. The province's inexpensive hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
and abundance of water and sunshine—in addition to the many hills and forests (which aid stealth outdoor growing)—make it an ideal cannabis growing area. The British Columbia cannabis industry is worth an estimated $6 billion annually, and produces 40% of all Canadian cannabis, making cannabis among the most valuable cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
s in the province. The province is also the home of the cannabis activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and businessman Marc Emery
Marc Emery
Marc Scott Emery is a Canadian cannabis policy reform advocate, as well as a former cannabis seed seller. He is currently serving a five year sentence in a United States federal prison for selling cannabis seeds....
.
Usage
A 2004 joint study by the University of VictoriaUniversity of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
and Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
found that 53% of British Columbians had tried cannabis at least once.
In the city of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, there are several cannabis coffee shop
Cannabis coffee shop
Coffeeshops are establishments in the Netherlands where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities ....
s where cannabis is smoked openly and personal use throughout the city is tolerated by local police.
Cultivation
The early history of cannabis production was centered in hippieHippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
communities in the Gulf Islands
Gulf Islands
The Gulf Islands are the islands in the Strait of Georgia , between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada....
and Kootenay
Kootenays
The Kootenay Region comprises the southeastern portion of British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa First Nation first encountered by explorer David Thompson.-Boundaries:The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land...
area, in climate conditions perfect for outdoor growing. However, it is believed that much of the cannabis currently sold for export originates from hydroponic grow operations in the Lower Mainland
Lower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
, with significant amounts added by outdoor growers throughout the province. The majority of these grow operations are run by gangs such as the Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
, and the Red Scorpions
Red Scorpions
The Red Scorpions are a gang based in British Columbia, Canada. Originally formed in a young offenders facility, they have been running “dial-a-dope lines” – in the suburbs of Vancouver since 2000...
. In 2008, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
inspector estimated the number of grow-ops in residential houses in the province to be 20,000.
A large amount of the province's cannabis crop is exported to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, up to 95% according to some US officials.
Public views
Opinion polling in British Columbia has shown that the province has greater support for the legalization of Cannabis than in any other province in Canada. An April 15, 2009 Angus Reid Public OpinionAngus Reid Public Opinion
Angus Reid Public Opinion is an international public affairs practice. It was established in 2006 under the name Angus Reid Strategies by Dr Angus Reid, a Canadian sociologist who founded his first research company in 1979. Reid sold the Angus Reid Group to Paris-based Ipsos SA in 2000...
poll found that 61% of British Columbians support the legalization of Cannabis, in comparison to an average of 53% in the rest of Canada.
See also
- Cannabis in Canada
- BC BudBC BudBC Bud is a generic term for several varieties of potent cannabis grown in the Canadian provinceof British Columbia. The term has almost become a brand name, especially in California, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Washington, to where most of the province's cannabis is exported...
- British Columbia Marijuana PartyBritish Columbia Marijuana PartyThe British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....
External links
- Cannabis Culture Magazine Online cannabis magazine based in British Columbia
- British Columbia Marijuana Party