5/31/11

I, Reefer

ESPN The Magazine features a story, in the May issue, about cold-climate cannabis smugglers.

From the article: "For years, hockey equipment bags have been the luggage of choice for the sophisticated criminal networks that smuggle Canadian marijuana into the U.S. Pot shipments of 100 pounds at a time are 'a daily event' in New York's North Country, says Franklin County district attorney Derek Champagne, who estimates that $1 billion worth of weed crosses the border into his remote jurisdiction every year. "

This Canadian marijuana is potent stuff, and it yields a decent profit for the drug runners: "A 100-pound load has a street value of about $500,000 in New York City, which helps explain why a mule who picks up a load at the border in northern New York can make $50 a pound for a four-hour drive to Albany; that's $5,000 for two hockey bags -- enough to purchase 5,000 hockey pucks on puckshop.com or one Canadiens season ticket in the Red section, provided you make it through the waiting list."

In order to appeal to the ESPN readership (translation: manchildren with disposable income), an otherwise serious article is riddled with these 'clever' ice hockey jokes.

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