http://www.fencing.net/forums/blogs/fencergrl-5763/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:53:31 GMT Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:55:11 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss vBlogetin craig@fencing.net craig@fencing.net http://www.fencing.net/forums/blogs/fencergrl-5763/perspective-7270/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:55:11 GMT I was watching "The Hour" on CBC (Canadian TV) late the other night and George had an interesting guest on. Yugoslavian journalist and author of the book "McMafia", Misha Glenny. http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Hour/ID=1328690659

His book discusses organized crime around the world. What struck me as funny (in an odd way) was that there was a whole chapter dedicated to discussing BC. Yeah... okay I recognize that BC is rather famous for marijuana, but what surprised me was a piece of conversation between them.

George lives in Toronto and used to be an interviewer on MTV... so he's no stranger to marijuana use. He mentioned that he was recently in Vancouver for the comedy fest and was surprised during intermission people went outside and lit up joints (instead of cigarettes).

His reaction surprised me. Doesn't that happen everywhere? Okay... in most major cities... at least in Canada? Apparently not.

When I turned to my husband he just said "one of our neighbours would get arrested most places". He's referring to one neighbour who heard a car accident happen down the street so he wander down to take a look. So he shows up and starts asking questions to the police etc... while smoking his joint. The police ran him off and told him to stop bothering them.

There's an unwritten agreement here... no one considers it illegal just don't annoy people with your habit. Don't annoy the cops while smoking a joint. Don't stink up public places... ie. the school washroom (go outside). If you're going to have a grow-op be a good neighbour.

It was interesting to hear it expressed somewhat in the interview. Misha Glenny mentioned that politically & economically there isn't the will to do anything about grow-ups. A lot of small towns survive because of the grow-ops. It's also been pretty obvious for years that BC Hydro was happy with the extra revenue. They only went after those that stole power to run the grow-ops. Alot of growers knew this and just paid their bills.

When the cops finally forced the BC Hydro to allow them access to their records, you couldn't help but wonder why they bothered. As often all that happened is they destroyed some of the grower's equipment & took their crop. So the grower had a set-back and just continued on. For the longest time, you could buy policed seized grow-op equipment cheaply... LOL what the hell? You'll often find in second hand stores.

Misha Glenny hit the nail on the head that police agencies don't have the funds to deal with this, so it really doesn't get dealt with. Eventually, decriminalizing happens so that governments can benefit from it rather than organized crime. I suppose the introduction of the use of marijuana for medical use is the beginning of this change.]]> Fencergrl http://www.fencing.net/forums/blogs/fencergrl-5763/perspective-7270/