Part II

Cannabis: effects, types of use, attitudes

Chapter 5

Cannabis: From Plant to Joint

Cannabis, marijuana, pot, grass, kif, grifa, ganja–from so many cultures, so many names for the drug made from cannabis sativa indica, one of the two main varieties of hemp. Beyond these various names are also different ways in which the drug is used and the context of those various usages: here marijuana is rolled with cigarette tobacco in a cigarette paper (joint), there kif is smoked in a pipe and elsewhere ganja is smoked in a water pipe. Sometimes it is baked into cookies or cakes. The French pétard, the English joint or the Indian bangh are all names for the product consumed and, at the same time designate different usages: marijuana is most often composed of the plant's flowering tops and dried, powdered leaves; sinsemilla is a preparation consisting of female tops of a private variety of seeds, whereas Indian ganja consists solely of fertilized flowering tops.[1][1]

These names are not mere accidents of folklore: like other substances, cannabis has codified uses that vary across cultures. The words used to name the same drug refer to a set of relations that populations of various cultures maintain with it, a kind of code of manners, but also of reasons to use the drug. In North America (United States and Canada), marijuana has long been identified with youth and the sexual liberation of the 1960s; in India and Jamaica, ganja has religious aspects which it does not necessarily possess in the West; and this same drug has still other cultural meanings in the Maghreb. We return to this question in Chapter 6.

This chapter first describes the cannabis plant and the various forms in which it becomes a consumer drug. We then take a brief look at the geographical origin of the cannabis plant and the routes along which it circulates in the modern world, noting at the same time its current modes of production (soil‑based and hydroponic) which have developed in certain regions of Canada. We then describe the pharmacokinetics of the cannabis plant, in particular its main active ingredients and their metabolism in the body.

 

One plant, various drugs[2][2]

 

There are a number of varieties of cannabis. The best known are Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis. Cannabis sativa is the main variety which grows in virtually any climate. In dry, sandy and slightly alkaline soils, it yields plants that can reach up to seven meters in height. In Canada, the preferred variety for soil‑based cultivation is Cannabis indica, which is a shorter plant, but with higher concentrations of D^9‑THC (the main active ingredient of cannabis, discussed more fully below). There are male and female plants. In general, female plants are richer in D^9‑THC than the males, which are often smaller and bare of leaves. D^9‑THC is mainly found in the resin secreted by the flowering tops.

 

 

Flowering tops and leaves of cannabis

 

 

It appears that cannabis was first known in China some 6,000 years ago, then subsequently in India, then the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and South America. Cannabis can be cultivated in a number of ways, in greenhouses or hydroponically, which makes it possible to increase plant productivity and achieve high D^9‑THC levels. Methods for genetically selecting the best greenhouse varieties and crops have also made it possible to increase the active ingredient content.

Male and female cannabis plants

 

Marijuana, which is a Mexican term initially used in reference to cheap tobacco, but which subsequently designated certain parts of the cannabis plant, is generally green or brown in colour and produces a characteristic odour when burned. It resembles oregano or coarse tea.[3][3] Marijuana comes from all the parts of the plant once dried. In this form, its THC content is lower; THC content is increased by selecting the flowering tops of the female plant. Dried and coarsely powdered, marijuana is most often rolled into thin cigarettes together with cigarette tobacco (joint), and sometimes smoked in a pipe or, less frequently, in cigar form. A typical joint contains between 0.5 and 1 g of cannabis. Like hash, it can also be baked into cookies and cakes, and be drunk as an herbal tea as well. A number of specialists told us that domestic cannabis made through controlled greenhouse production costs approximately $100 an ounce, and is then sold on the street at average prices ranging between $200 and $250. While we consider this estimated production cost high, the only other available studies concern production costs in developing countries such as Morocco.

 

 

Marijuana and joints

Hashish, also known as hash, shit, kif (in North Africa) and charas (in India), is the viscous resin produced by the marijuana plant and obtained by pounding then compressing the dried leaves and flowering tops to obtain what, in France, is called a "barrette" or here a cube or block. It takes approximately 45 to 75 kg of cannabis to produce 1 kg of hash, which is sold in light brown to black pieces of hard or soft consistency. It is frequently smoked, alone or mixed with tobacco or marijuana, in a cigarette (joint), pipe or, more rarely, cigar. It may also be baked into cookies or cakes. The D^9‑THC content of hash is generally between 3% and 6% in normal production. As is the case for cannabis, D^9‑THC content can be increased through growing methods and resin concentrations to achieve levels of more than 10% on average. Slightly more expensive than marijuana, hashish sells for approximately $300 to $350 an ounce on the street.

 

Haschich

 

There are two other cannabis‑based products, marijuana and hashish oils, which are extracted from resin using 90‑proof alcohol, which is subsequently evaporated through exposure to the sun. These oils are viscous, greenish brown to blackish, foul‑smelling liquids, with generally higher cannabinoid concentrations of up to 30% to 60% D^9‑THC. Oils are generally dripped onto cigarette paper or tobacco then smoked. They are scarce and more expensive than other products.

 

 

  

Cannabis oils

 

The following passage from a report prepared by Labrousse and Romero for the Observatoire français des drogues et des toxicomanies (OFDT; French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addictions) in 2001 on cannabis production in Morocco describes the various stages of production very clearly.

From Cannabis to Oil – The Production Process in Morocco

Kif is the name given to the cannabis plant as a whole. (…) Cut and dried in the sun (generally on rooftops) for at least a month and a half, it is preserved in houses for several months under plastic tarpaulins. Chopped by hand with a special knife on a board, it is then mixed with tobacco for smoking. The traditional mixture consists of one‑third kif, two‑thirds tobacco and is smoked in a sebsi, a long wooden pipe with a terracotta or stone pipe bowl.

Chira is the powder resulting from solidification of the small resin drops exuded by the flowering tops of the female plants. To separate the resin from the dried plants, processors pound or shake the plants over a stretched thin nylon veil that serves as a screen. The first powder to fall, golden beige in colour, is called sigirma. This is the top quality, so‑called double‑zero powder which is said to contain as much as 20% THC. The next powder to fall is called hamda, which is mixed with plant waste giving it a greenish colour. Hamda is lightly screened to yield various product qualities: zero, no. 1, no. 2, no. 3 and no. 4 (the lowest quality), containing respectively from 10% to 2% THC. (…) It takes approximately 100 kg of kif to obtain 1 kg of top‑quality hashish.

Peasants (…) told us that the rest of the operation, when carried out by traffickers, took place in ostensibly secret buildings isolated in the mountains. (…) There the powder is placed in cellophane bags, then heated and compressed to yield resin or hashish, readied for the market in the form of small bars (generally 250 grams) called tbisla or "little plate". (…) The "double zero" quality, which derives its name from the two holes made in the bar with the end of a lit cigarette, is reserved for domestic consumption and preferred customers. Misinformed foreign customers often receive hash that has been cut with black polish, glue, henna, fig, earth or even medication.

(…) Cannabis oil is derived from no. 3 and no. 4 quality resins and produced by diluting hashish in a container with pharmaceutical alcohol. After six to eight hours of distillation, the liquid is filtered and stirred until all the alcohol has evaporated. Local production of this high value‑added liquid (it takes 10 kg of hashish to produce one liter of oil) is less marginal than is generally thought.

Labrousse, A. and L. Romero (2001) Rapport sur la situation du cannabis dans le RIF marocain. Paris: OFDT.

 

 

Cannabis roads

 

Where does the cannabis and hashish available in Canada come from? What quantities are imported and how much is produced locally? What routes are used to transport the drugs between provinces? What quantities are exported to other countries? What is the monetary value of this market? These are constantly recurring questions. They serve various purposes: to underline the scope of the drug “problem” generally, to explain the power of organized crime which makes money from drugs, as well as to substantiate the discrepancy between the size of the problem and the limited resources governments allocated to reducing supply. But this information can also assist in better understanding the extent of the problem experienced by peasants in the various producer countries, the ecological issues raised by the cultivation of drugs, as well as the strategic position of drugs in geopolitics.

The cultivation of cannabis is the most widespread of all illegal drugs, which is not surprising since, not only does the plant grow readily in a number of climates, but it also requires little processing before becoming marijuana. According to the 2000 report of the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP):

 

Over the last decade, 120 countries reported illicit cultivation of cannabis in their territory. Interpol identifies 67 source countries for cannabis through seizures made in 1998. (…) Estimating the extent of illicit cannabis cultivation, production and trafficking is much more difficult than for other plant‑based drugs because of the significant amount of wild cannabis growth, the diverse nature of cultivation and the sheer magnitude of trafficking. In contrast to other plant‑based narcotic drugs, illicit cannabis products can originate from three qualitatively distinct sources of supply: outdoor illicit cultivation; naturalized cannabis plant populations (wild growing cannabis); and plants cultivated indoors by means of sophisticated growing technology. (…) The large number of countries reporting an increase in cannabis consumption (two‑thirds of all countries reporting drug abuse trends in 1996) would suggest that overall production must have increased; but this is only partly confirmed by seizure data. (…) Cultivation estimated (including wild growth), based on reports from Member States in the 1990s, ranges from 670,000 hectares to 1,850,000 hectares. Production estimates vary by a factor of 30, from 10,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes. Linking production and consumption estimates, UNDCP estimates world wide cannabis production to be at about 30,000 tonnes. [4][4]

 

Variable Estimates – The Case of Morocco

In their study, Labrousse and Romero state that, according to the Department of Agriculture, cannabis was produced on 75,000 hectares in 2000. (By comparison, in its 2000 report, the ODCCP cites the figure of 50,000 hectares in cannabis production in Morocco, an official figure provided by the Department of the Interior.)

Based on their own work in the field, they estimate that 90,000 hectares were in production in 1999 and between 110,000 and 120,000 in 2001. That production involved approximately 200,000 families, between one and one and a half million persons. Based on those areas, production would be between 1,600 and 3,000 tonnes, after deducting the quantities of kif set aside for national consumption.

Labrousse and Romero, op. cit.

As may be seen, estimates vary greatly and are enormously difficult to validate. How can anyone estimate the number of cannabis plants that are transformed into marijuana? The data provided by the governments of various countries on cultivated areas are themselves only approximations. As to the number of greenhouses and other forms of production, there is quite literally no way of knowing.

The work of the team at France's Observatoire géopolitique des drogues, under the direction of Alain Labrousse, is exemplary in the field. The box from the same report produced for the OFDT in 2001, describes a three‑month field project in which the authors cross‑checked data from various sources.

 

In particular, it has been observed that, when linked to the population of potential cannabis users (which the Centre estimates at some 120 million persons), the estimated global production of 30,000 tonnes is much nearer the 10,000 tonne floor than the 300,000 tonne ceiling.

According to the UNDCP, the main producers are Colombia and Mexico (marijuana) and Morocco (hashish). According to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Morocco, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the main sources of hashish and Colombia, Niger and South Africa of cannabis. Lastly, according to Labrousse, marijuana production is exploding, with Colombia becoming again the major producer it was in the 1970s, and production rapidly increasing in West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Ivory Coat, Senegal), although the great steppes of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan) have virtually unlimited export potential, while Afghanistan and Pakistan likely produce 2,000 tonnes of hashish, the equivalent of Morocco's production.[5][5] In addition, Canada has been a cannabis exporting country for a number of years now.[6][6]

Traditionally, the cannabis available in Canada comes mainly from Mexico, Jamaica and the countries of the horn of Africa, while hashish originates mainly in Asia and the Middle East:

 

The hashish market in Central Eastern Canada is known world‑wide. U.S. criminals are among the international traffickers who orchestrate multi‑tonne shipments of this drug from Pakistan directly to Montreal by mothership or container. In 2001, some shipments transited the United Arab Emirates, Africa and Europe before reaching Canada. Multi‑kilo quantities are also imported from Jamaica by couriers travelling on board commercial airlines. [7][7]

 

While a large portion of cannabis sold in the Canadian market was of foreign origin until the 1980s, the situation has radically changed since that time. It is estimated that national production has now supplanted imports. In its 1999 report, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police writes:

 

It is estimated that more than 50% of the marihuana available in Canada is produced domestically. Of the foreign marihuana seized in or en route to Canada in 1999, at least 5,535 kilograms originated from Jamaica, 825 kilograms from South Africa and 860 kilograms from Mexico. Foreign shipments arrive directly into Canadian ports of entry or transit through the United States before reaching Canada. On June 11, 1999, U.S. Customs intercepted 2,464 kg of Jamaican marihuana and 141 kg of hash oil at Newark, New Jersey in a marine container bound for Montreal. Furthermore in Project JOULE on June 20, 1999, 2,617 kg of Jamaican marihuana destined for Canada were seized in Stuart, Florida. [8][8]

 

How much cannabis and hashish are available in Canada? What is the monetary value of those drugs? It is in fact impossible to answer these questions, for obvious reasons, since the drugs are illegal. While we know the amount of tobacco produced and sold in cigarette form, and the volume of alcohol produced or imported and consumed, and sales turnover can be calculated in both cases on the basis of those volumes, it is impossible to do this for illegal drugs.

For a time, the United Nations International Drug Control Program suggested that the total value of the illegal drug "industry" was approximately US $400 billion, greater than the oil industry.[9][9] The total value of cannabis obviously cannot be separated from that amount, even though we know that the largest number of persons who use drugs use cannabis. No one really knows how or on what basis these figures are advanced, whether they were produced using a rigorous calculation method or merely noted down on a napkin over a meal.[10][10] And yet they often serve as a reference. In a series of articles published on the illicit drug issue in 2001, The Economist cited the $400 billion amount before suggesting a more conservative estimate of US $150 billion.[11][11] By comparison, the value of the pharmaceutical industry is near US $300 billion, that of the tobacco industry $204 billion and that of the alcoholic beverages industry $250 billion.

Since the authors provide itemized accounts of their calculation methods, we will now continue our analysis of the Moroccan example.

 

Yields and Returns from Cannabis – The Case of Morocco

Cannabis is a not very demanding plant that grows in poor soils, which it quite quickly renders unfit for any other form of agriculture. As a result of the illegal nature of this crop, the income it generates is disproportionately high compared to that from legal food and cash crops. It is also a non‑perishable product that can be sold from the home, into an ever certain market and on credit. In particular, it enables local populations to improve their living conditions and opens the way to initiatives by the peasants themselves.

Estimates of per‑hectare cannabis income vary with soil type, rainfall, degree of irrigation, whether the cannabis is processed into chira (powder), period of sale and other factors. In addition, researchers give various estimates based on the same criteria. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to obtain reliable data from mistrustful peasant farmers. Income from the production of unprocessed kif varies, depending on sources, from 12,450 to 210,000 French francs per hectare.

(…) while cannabis is highly profitable on irrigated perimeters, it is much less so on pluvial lands, particularly in poor years. (…) Many peasant farmers who likely cultivate only 1.5 ha to 3 ha (non irrigated) of cannabis, earn, in poor years, only 20,000 F to 40,000 F from that crop to support families of, in many cases, more than 10 persons.

(But) cannabis is 12 to 46 times more profitable than grain crops.

In 1997, based on production of 1,397 tonnes of hashish for the Rif as a whole, Pascual Moreno estimated the return for Moroccan producers (from the peasant farmer to the major trafficker) at $1.816 billion. Since a certain number of Moroccan traffickers operate outside the country, Moreno estimated the return to the Moroccan economy from cannabis profits at $2 billion, compared to $750 million for textile exports, $460 million from foreign investments and $1.26 billion for tourism. He also estimated the profits of European traffickers at $3 billion (apparently not including street sales).

However, since cannabis is more profitable than any other crop, peasant farmers tend to abandon food crops and to supply themselves from the market. As a result, there is a growing food shortage in the region.

Labrousse and Romero (2001) op. cit.: 12‑15.

 

We know of no similar field work for Canada or Mexico. In addition, in Canada, climatic conditions have stimulated development of greenhouse and hydroponic crops, and the ratio of these cultivation methods to soil cultivation methods is not known.

We therefore use the following figures and data on cannabis production, cannabis and hashish imports and the monetary value of those drugs in the Canadian market, with considerable reservation and prudence.

According to the RCMP, "the annual production of marijuana in Canada [is] at least in the 800 tonne range. This estimate appears overwhelming, however investigators believe it is quite conservative, and it is supported by intelligence and seizures of marijuana in plant and bulk forms."[12][12] The same figures are stated in the 1998 and 2002 reports. Note as well that, at 800 tonnes, Canadian production represents approximately 2.5% of global production, as stated by the UNDCP.

In its 1998‑1999 annual report, the Observatoire géopolitique des drogues stated that, based on police sources, the value of the illegal drug market in Canada was $7 billion to $10 billion a year.[13][13] For 2001, the RCMP estimated that the market value of all illegal drugs was $18 billion.[14][14] It is impossible to estimate the share of cannabis and hashish in that total. As we most often do not know the calculation basis for these estimates, they must also be prudently considered. As the Assistant Deputy Solicitor General stated in his appearance before the Committee, the calculation methods, based on the assumption that police and customs organizations seize 10% of all drugs, are unscientific and unreliable.[15][15] We nevertheless note an apparent inconsistency: the seeming stagnation of cannabis production at 800 tonnes and of hashish imports at 100 tonnes since 1998, as well as the declining prices of heroin and cocaine in a stable, even declining market (RCMP reports) are not consistent with the presumed doubling in total value of the drug market. As a result, in dealing with these various estimates of the quantity of drugs produced and monetary value of the drug market, the Committee often had the impression that, ultimately, no one really knew how big it was.

With regard to hashish, the RCMP believes that it

 

is easier to estimate the quantity of hashish entering the Canadian market annually than the quantity of any other illegal drug. Unlike what is observed for other drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana, that can be found across Canada and the United States, hashish use in North America is a localized phenomenon. The drug is very popular in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces, whereas demand is limited elsewhere in Canada and supply is sporadic at best in the northeastern United States. Consequently, Montreal organized criminal groups are specialized in the massive importing of hashish and have a monopoly on its distribution in bulk. In view of these facts and of information on multi‑tonne hashish shipments seized in Canada and abroad and on those we know have entered the Canadian market, RCMP analysts estimate that at least 100 tonnes of the drug are imported into Canada each year. [16][16]

 

Canada is also an in-transit country for drugs to the United States, and a significant portion of Canadian cannabis is intended for export, in particular to that country.

 

Smuggling of Canadian marihuana to the United States remains a source of concern for enforcement officials on both sides of the border. Though this activity is particularly noticeable on the British Columbia–U.S. border, it is not limited to that province. There is intelligence that the Hell's Angels in Quebec are supplying marihuana to their U.S. counterparts. Intelligence also indicates that there is marihuana smuggling activity across the Great Lakes. Despite the foregoing, few U.S. marihuana seizures can be traced back to Canada. [17][17]

 

In 1999, Washington officials suggested that Canada could be placed on the list of countries suspected of a soft stance in the fight against drug production and trafficking. More recently, officials of the Drug Enforcement Administration repeated that Canada's trafficking in cannabis toward the United States was a significant problem. One RCMP officer told a national newspaper that approximately 70% of marijuana grown in Canada wound up in the United States,[18][18] whereas, according to the 2002 report of the International Drug Control Agency, the figure was approximately 60%.[19][19] We have heard, and RCMP officers confirmed it, that cannabis from British Columbia has such a high value that it was traded on par with cocaine. According to those police officers specialized in the war on drugs, British Columbia's triple A quality cannabis is worth approximately $4,000 a pound in Canada and one kilogram of cocaine is currently worth US $11,000. However, while reference is made to this supposition in the annual report for 1999, it is not confirmed:

 

Canadian marihuana is sometimes used as a currency to purchase cocaine that is warehoused in the U.S.A. The exchange ratio is about three to one. Exchanges of one to one have been rumoured but never substantiated. Furthermore, such a rate of exchange does not make sound commercial sense considering that a kilo of cocaine sells for $13,000 U.S. (in lots of 50 kilos or more) while the wholesale price of a kilo of marihuana ranges around $6,000 or $8,000 U.S. [20][20]

 

In its 2002 report, the RCMP merely mentions the fact that Canadian cannabis is exchanged for cocaine, without saying whether it is on an equal weights basis. We also note a certain inconsistency here as the price of a kilogram of cocaine is expressed in US dollars, whereas that of a kilogram of marijuana is expressed sometimes in Canadian dollars, at other times in US dollars.

British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are the main producers in Canada. British Columbia's large production can be attributed in particular to suitable climatic conditions, but there are probably also sociocultural explanations, as the Pacific Coast mentality explains in part why cannabis appears to have taken root there to a greater extent.

Cannabis production in British Columbia appears to have increased significantly over the past 10 years, becoming, according to some analysts, one of the province's biggest industries in terms of monetary value, which some analysts set at $6 billion, whereas, according to some police officers, a conservative estimate would be $4 billion.[21][21] If marijuana sells for $225 an ounce, at 16 ounces a pound, British Columbia would appear to produce the equivalent of 550 tonnes of cannabis a year, more than two‑thirds of the total amount of cannabis circulating in Canada.

Testifying in Richmond, B.C., on 14 May 2002, RCMP Superintendent Clapham said there were between 15,000 and 20,000 illegal cannabis production sites in British Columbia (figures from the Drug Enforcement Administration), while RCMP narcotics specialists, the next day, put the figure at 7,000. Regardless of the true number, the figures, as may be seen, must necessarily be considered very carefully.

As to growing methods, soil‑based production is still the most popular, but the more sophisticated, hydroponic and aeroponic,[22][22] methods are expanding, particularly among criminal gangs that have the necessary infrastructure.

 

It is not uncommon to find indoor grow operations involving over 3,000 plants. Those figures vary considerably from one province to another, overall less than 10 percent of all marihuana seized in Canada was grown using hydroponics (a method of growing plants with the roots in nutrient mineral solutions rather than in soil). Indoor grow operations still rely mostly on soil‑based organic cultivation but hydroponics is gaining in popularity. Despite the availability of highly sophisticated technologies designed to increase the yield even more, most growers do not bother to go to such lengths, preferring simpler and proven methods. Marihuana remains the most popular illicit drug, both in terms of consumption and trafficking. The annual marihuana production has been estimated to be around five million plants. Given the relatively low cost of setting up a grow operation and the considerable profits it generates, this activity has become increasingly attractive, even to otherwise law‑abiding citizens. In the majority of regions, large operations are invariably run by outlaw motorcycle gangs, although Asian‑based organizations have been making inroads in British Columbia and Alberta. More and more groups are using "crop sitters" and other go‑betweens to tend their plantations. This hands‑off approach makes it difficult for police to link the operation to the people who are actually behind it. Outdoor crops are often grown on Crown lands located in remote areas in order to reduce the risk of detection. [23][23]

 

In all, with considerable reservations as to the validity of the data, the Committee submits the following:

 

	Marijuana	Hashish
Estimated quantity ‑ national production	800 tonnes approximately 50%	100 tonnes ?
Source	National production (British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec) Imports: Mexico, Jamaica	Imports: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco
Value (wholesale)	$2,000 to $4,000/pound	?
Retail value (ounce)	$225 to $250	$325 to $350