When driving from Prince George to Kamloops last week, we drove through a small town called Stoner. I'm sure that hundreds of thousands of people have been amused by this name over the years, and I can't imagine what their road signage budget is, because I bet the "Stoner" signs have been stolen repeatedly over the years.
British Columbia is a very pot-friendly province, in fact, it is probably the most tolerant Canadian province when it comes to the use of marijuana. I have no doubt that the anti-drug population in Washington State must just hate having BC as their northern neighbour.
According to Stats Canada (info provided by the RCMP), in 2005, the value of the five highest ranked industries in British Columbia by financial value was as follows:
Forestry = $10 billion
Construction = $7.9 billion
Marijuana = $7.5 billion
Hotels, restaurants = $3.8 billion
Mining, oil and gas = $3.5 billion
That's pretty impressive. Cultivation of pot is estimated to contribute more to the province's GDP than hotels, restaurants, mining, and oil & gas put together. That's not small "pot"atoes.
I'm not a pot smoker at all. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with other people smoking it. I just have absolutely no interest for the same reasons that I don't smoke cigarettes - because I don't want to abuse my lungs with the smoke. But although I am convinced that there are some negative health repercussions to smoking marijuana, I still think that pot is probably quite a bit less harmful to the general population than my own drug of choice - alcohol. Canada appears to be slowly moving towards decriminalization of marijuana, which I think is a smart idea.
Anyway, I know that people from around the world have a lot of different views regarding the consumpation of "soft" drugs, and since I'm not a smoker myself, I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to debating the pros and cons of marijuana use. However, I am always amused to see the business value of this underground industry, and I always have to smile when I drive down Highway 97 and see that sign.
So the big question is, if you actually live in that famous small town, how do you describe yourself? I guess you would just have to stand straight up and proudly say, "Yes, I'm a Stoner."
I think some people who live in "stoner" prefer calling the place "stone creek", atleast thats how I remember it but its been 20 years.
ReplyDeletePG boy in Ohio
That is exactly correct!!! I was born in Prince George on 06/04/1960 and grew up in "Stoner" as they now call it but it was referred to as Stone Creek back then when we were growing up.
Deletei want to go to stoner town and smoke lots of pot
ReplyDeletemarijuana smoke doesnt hurt the lungs the cannaboids neutralizes the bad tar and other toxins that are present in the smoke.
ReplyDeleteI dont think the medical community would consider it if it was bad for you.
There are too many myths out there.
Im quite involved with pot, I have found most people even most stoners dont know shit about the subject.
I passed by this sign while on a roadtrip from Vancouver BC. My friends and i decided to find a pull over spot and take a picture of the sign, the 'stoner' thing to do was to smoke pot in front of the sign. sadly the $800 camera sunk to the bottom of okanagan lake along with the memory stick 2 days later [Great job Steve].
ReplyDeleteThe town itself is fairly quiet, didn't really see many people or other vehicles often.
As per another comment on this page, the locals call it stone creek, not stoner.
The town is actually named after a man named Walter Stoner who did some surveying in that area
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1958 and went to school in Stoner at the Stone Creek Elementary from grade one to grade six. Great place to grow up and my memories are very fond. Not much there now but it used to be a thriving little town. Never saw any grow ops there but Stoner brand bud would have been a hit on name alone.
ReplyDelete