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Bud Inc.
According to Forbes magazine,* marijuana is “Canada’s most valuable agricultural product — bigger than wheat, cattle or timber.” Bud Inc. gives us an inside look at this thriving homegrown industry.
Although the cultivation and selling of marijuana remains illegal in Canada, it is already big business, especially in British Columbia. Law enforcement officials estimate that the annual wholesale value of B.C. marijuana is now $6 billion, about 5% of the province’s total economy. If these stats are correct, it is B.C.’s largest export. Ontario and Quebec are not far behind.
Vancouver journalist Ian Mulgrew has been following the rise of this underground economy for some time, and knows all the key players, political and entrepreneurial. Comparisons to the rum-runners of the Prohibition era are not unfounded. These so-called “pot barons” are all savvy businessmen who have built their empires using tried and true business models.
Cash-strapped governments, pharmaceutical companies and other big businesses are well aware of the potential profits, and Canada has been at the forefront of the global movement to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize the recreational use of the drug. Estimates vary, but it’s thought that nearly a million people in Canada could benefit from medicinal marijuana, yet only about a thousand are currently legally authorized to use it. Many feel that marijuana should be grown, regulated and taxed like any other commodity.
Following the evolution of the marijuana trade from rich kids smuggling it in their luggage, to trans-oceanic operations involving tons of dope, to today’s thriving multi-billion-dollar domestic industry, Bud Inc. is a fascinating study of real-life supply-and-demand economics.
*November 2003
Although the cultivation and selling of marijuana remains illegal in Canada, it is already big business, especially in British Columbia. Law enforcement officials estimate that the annual wholesale value of B.C. marijuana is now $6 billion, about 5% of the province’s total economy. If these stats are correct, it is B.C.’s largest export. Ontario and Quebec are not far behind.
Vancouver journalist Ian Mulgrew has been following the rise of this underground economy for some time, and knows all the key players, political and entrepreneurial. Comparisons to the rum-runners of the Prohibition era are not unfounded. These so-called “pot barons” are all savvy businessmen who have built their empires using tried and true business models.
Cash-strapped governments, pharmaceutical companies and other big businesses are well aware of the potential profits, and Canada has been at the forefront of the global movement to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize the recreational use of the drug. Estimates vary, but it’s thought that nearly a million people in Canada could benefit from medicinal marijuana, yet only about a thousand are currently legally authorized to use it. Many feel that marijuana should be grown, regulated and taxed like any other commodity.
Following the evolution of the marijuana trade from rich kids smuggling it in their luggage, to trans-oceanic operations involving tons of dope, to today’s thriving multi-billion-dollar domestic industry, Bud Inc. is a fascinating study of real-life supply-and-demand economics.
*November 2003
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2005
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46 people want to read
About the author
Ian Mulgrew
10 books1 followerA veteran Canadian journalist, currently a columnist with the Vancouver Sun.
The author of three books covering topics from true crime to professional football.
Work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Sun, Christian Science Monitor and the Toronto Star.
His journalism has been recognized with a B’nai Brith award for coverage of discrimination against Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the Best Limited Series award for his CBC Vancouver radio show Forum, among others.
The author of three books covering topics from true crime to professional football.
Work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Sun, Christian Science Monitor and the Toronto Star.
His journalism has been recognized with a B’nai Brith award for coverage of discrimination against Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the Best Limited Series award for his CBC Vancouver radio show Forum, among others.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 19, 2023
Bud Inc. was a really interesting journey through the rise of the illegal Canadian cannabis industry, particularly in British Columbia. What made the book especially interesting to me is that it ends before the 2015 election when the Liberals came to power in part on their cannabis legalization promise, which is right about the time I started paying attention to cannabis policy in Canada. So I feel like I got a good tour through the some of the background and context that I was missing, even as I recognized name after name in the book from my time as a patient advocate industry.
If there is one name in Canada that is synonymous with the illegal cannabis industry in Canada, it is the self-proclaimed Prince of Pot, Marc Emery. The book opens and closes with his role as the public face of the long-running campaign to legalize cannabis in Canada; curiously, Emery's star power has waned significantly since legalization, in part, as the book argues, because Emery cares more about Standing Up To The Man than he does about the causes that he throws himself into. Of course, since 2015, the illegal industry's worst-kept secret - that Emery is a transphobic sexual predator - has also put him on the outs of the legal industry. However, Marc Emery was, at one point, the face of the illegal cannabis industry in Canada, and he is rightly accorded space in Mulgrew's book.
After becoming a patient advocate, I had the opportunity to attend a number of industry conferences and trade shows. Mulgrew explores the history of the biggest names on the legal trade show circuit, Advanced Nutrients, the dreamchild of American fugitive Mike Straumietus. Run initially out of a garden centre in my hometown of Abbotsford, B.C., and now headquartered in Hollywood, California, Advanced Nutrients employed a number of plant scientists to conduct research on cannabis plants, in an effort to determine the optimal nutrients required to produce the big stinky flowers that became known the world over as 'B.C. Bud.' While Mulgrew never reveals where the garden centre was, having grown up in the area at about the same time Advanced Nutrients was operating there, I am pretty sure that I know exactly where that garden centre was - I can see it, on Gladwin Rd., in my mind's eye. This connection to my hometown - and my memory of growing up a super-conservative Christian while at the same time being enthralled by the idea of B.C. Bud - made this section of the book particularly cool for me to read.
The only downside for me was less about the book and more about me - I felt the section on medical marijuana [sic] was a really good overview of the general movement, but, as someone who became involved in patient advocacy after legalization, it felt a bit aimless, like it had to be mentioned as part of the story, even though it wasn't as sexy as the illegal seed banks and underground nutrient scientists.
Going into this book I didn't know if I was going to get a one-sided take, pulling information from arrest records and quoting law enforcement only in a good light, or if I was going to get something more gritty, an actual look behind the hood. While I would have liked to have read more about the ins-and-outs of how illegal growers successfully grew their plants, especially in the interior of the province, Bud Inc. ultimately provided an unflinching behind the scenes look at the people and ideas that made British Columbia the one-time King of Weed.
If there is one name in Canada that is synonymous with the illegal cannabis industry in Canada, it is the self-proclaimed Prince of Pot, Marc Emery. The book opens and closes with his role as the public face of the long-running campaign to legalize cannabis in Canada; curiously, Emery's star power has waned significantly since legalization, in part, as the book argues, because Emery cares more about Standing Up To The Man than he does about the causes that he throws himself into. Of course, since 2015, the illegal industry's worst-kept secret - that Emery is a transphobic sexual predator - has also put him on the outs of the legal industry. However, Marc Emery was, at one point, the face of the illegal cannabis industry in Canada, and he is rightly accorded space in Mulgrew's book.
After becoming a patient advocate, I had the opportunity to attend a number of industry conferences and trade shows. Mulgrew explores the history of the biggest names on the legal trade show circuit, Advanced Nutrients, the dreamchild of American fugitive Mike Straumietus. Run initially out of a garden centre in my hometown of Abbotsford, B.C., and now headquartered in Hollywood, California, Advanced Nutrients employed a number of plant scientists to conduct research on cannabis plants, in an effort to determine the optimal nutrients required to produce the big stinky flowers that became known the world over as 'B.C. Bud.' While Mulgrew never reveals where the garden centre was, having grown up in the area at about the same time Advanced Nutrients was operating there, I am pretty sure that I know exactly where that garden centre was - I can see it, on Gladwin Rd., in my mind's eye. This connection to my hometown - and my memory of growing up a super-conservative Christian while at the same time being enthralled by the idea of B.C. Bud - made this section of the book particularly cool for me to read.
The only downside for me was less about the book and more about me - I felt the section on medical marijuana [sic] was a really good overview of the general movement, but, as someone who became involved in patient advocacy after legalization, it felt a bit aimless, like it had to be mentioned as part of the story, even though it wasn't as sexy as the illegal seed banks and underground nutrient scientists.
Going into this book I didn't know if I was going to get a one-sided take, pulling information from arrest records and quoting law enforcement only in a good light, or if I was going to get something more gritty, an actual look behind the hood. While I would have liked to have read more about the ins-and-outs of how illegal growers successfully grew their plants, especially in the interior of the province, Bud Inc. ultimately provided an unflinching behind the scenes look at the people and ideas that made British Columbia the one-time King of Weed.
August 8, 2022
Overall good book about pre legalization struggles. Stories of people who were at the for front of legalization
August 9, 2017
Originally got this book in support of one of my major uni papers. Didn't get a chance to fully read it then. Now, years later it is interesting to read through this with the knowledge that legalization will be happening soon.
It is an easy read for something that could sounds a lot more technical. Solid work Mr. Mulgrew!
It is an easy read for something that could sounds a lot more technical. Solid work Mr. Mulgrew!
September 23, 2012
... This book is a smooth read. It poetically tells the stories of a handful of half legal drug dealers, their successes and failures. Consider it crucial reading for businessmen, economists, politicos, cops and doctors. This issue, that of a plant that heals being stigmatized and made illegal, will not go away, being that it is a civil liberty issue at a time of global socio-political awakening.
Read the entire review here: http://boldbookworm.com/bud080711.html
~ BB
http://boldbookworm.com
Read the entire review here: http://boldbookworm.com/bud080711.html
~ BB
http://boldbookworm.com
August 31, 2007
Great view of Canada's true leading exported product! Now if only others will see the similarities between this industry and the prohibition days of alcohol. Only, this time without the unbelievable amounts of negative effects... like drunk driving, aggressiveness, money spent and the dreaded hangover. Want to go in behind the scenes? This book will do it for you.
December 9, 2011
Very interesting!! As a Canadian and connoisseur of all things herbal I was fascinated by the comparison to prohibition. The Canadian public is generally understanding of the use of medical marijuana and all its benefits. The effects of toking are so much less damaging to society than alcohol consumption. You don't think it was tobacco in the natives' peace pipe, do you?
November 18, 2016
More of a autobiography rather than a actual business book. Not what I expected from this book.
March 9, 2018
Started off strong, ending was meh
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews