Time Magazine spreads B.C. Bud Reefer Madness hype

The article by Anita Hamilton titled This Bud’s For The U.S.:
Canada’s relaxed drug laws may be fueling a boom in marijuana exports to America repeats many of the drug warriors’ standard deceptions, including:

Although the actual potency of BC Bud varies from batch to batch, depending on how it’s grown, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that as much as 25% of BC Bud is made of the psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In contrast, the pot that the hippie generation smoked in the 1970s had only 2% THC content, and most pot consumed in the U.S. today averages about 7% THC.

White House drug czar John Walters blames BC Bud in part for the increased number of pot-related emergency room incidents, which have more than doubled, from 54,000 in 1996 to 119,000 in 2002. Those incidents range from accidents and injuries to unexpected reactions to the drug. “Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana,” Walters told reporters in April.

These items have been debunked so often by all of us drug policy reformers that we’re just plain tired of doing it.
Then Anita sprinkles the story liberally with scare tales of violence (totally unrelated to the issue of Canadian decriminalization) such as:

The body of the suspected ringleader of a trafficking group was found stabbed in the neck in a ditch in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in November 2002. “It’s still a dangerous drug,” says James Capra, the DEA’s chief of domestic operations. “People are killing each other over it.”

MAP has a Focus Alert on it. Why don’t you stop over there and get tips on writing a letter to Time and set them straight? Time Magazine must learn that there is a cost to spreading the drug czar’s lies.