"One man is dead and two more are in critical but stable condition following a drug deal that ended in gunfire early Tuesday evening on Spokane’s lower South Hill...
The drug deal, authorities confirmed, did not involve methamphetamine, but rather marijuana. Spokane Police Chief Roger Bragdon, who was on the scene of the incident, was surprised that the drugs being traded was a strain of marijuana called 'B.C. Bud' and said that the city, regardless of the type of drug, is a prime location for drug transshipment and sales." (One Dead, Two Wounded Following South Hill Shooting, KREM, January 29, 2002)

Stories of crime and violence involving youth are becoming more frequent and more violent.  News reports often reveal that many crimes are committed while under the influence of drugs.

"U.S. Customs Service inspectors seized more than 1,400 pounds of potent 'B.C. Bud' marijuana from the back of a beer truck at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Blaine Tuesday evening...The driver of the truck, which was headed for California, was arrested and is now in Whatcom County Jail." (1,400 pounds of 'BC Bud' seized at border, Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 17, 2002)

"Police officials in New York City, who spent years battling a crack scourge that sent the murder rate soaring, say they are now seeing increasing violence among dealers of marijuana, a drug that they say no longer fits its laid-back image." (Violent Crimes Undercut Marijuana's Mellow Image, The New York Times, May 19, 2001)

"The level of violence still pales in comparison to the carnage of the turf wars between rival crack gangs a decade ago. But officials say they believe that the number of marijuana-related shootings has gone up in recent years and that investigators now routinely find guns, includig submachine guns, when they execute search warrants at marijuana stash houses." (Violent Crimes Undercut Marijuana's Mellow Image, The New York Times, May 19, 2001)

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