Reefer Madness Kills Four

Over at the mother ship, Don is at a loss to understand what happened yesterday to four RCMP officers in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta.

Killing cops is wrong. That being said, sending in raw rookies to tangle with a caselot of known drug and firearms issues, just to enforce this country's antiquated marijuana laws, is also wrong.

Marijuana is an issue that shows the cultural divide between British Columbians and our immediate Eastern neighbours. In Alberta, if they're doing something illegal, no matter it is, put the boots to 'em straight away. In BC, we want the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency spooks kicked out of Vancouver. We lift our middle fingers skyward at the Homeland Security helicopter making regular orbits out of Bellingham, to the tune of the "4:20" song on the local rock radio station, sponsored by Advanced Hydroponics.

We just don't have the love affair with cops that Albertans do. Calgarians rage when a Richard Sonnenberg is killed, by demanding 24-hour helicopter surveillance backed by an avalanche of donations. Who cares if it's primarily used to harass what passes for a gay stroll in Cowtown? Vancouverites rage when our boys in blue drag people to Stanley Park in the middle of the night to beat them death, or play Kristalnacht in the Downtown Eastside every few months to squeeze money out of City Council.

To sum up, and the crass opportunism of Marc Emery and the BC Marijuana Party aside, none of us here really care if you're holding, and few of us do if you're growing.

If you're packing, that is just not cool, damn it.