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Nelson community leaders and law enforcement officials aren't particularly pleased with the way the city's been portrayed by Rolling Stone magazine.
But some are leaning towards the "any press is good press" analogy in a bid to put a more positive spin on a story that implicates the Heritage City region as the source for millions of dollars worth of marijuana trafficked by a young gang of smugglers based out of Coeur D'Alene Idaho. The gang reportedly trafficked $38-million worth of pot before they were arrested and jailed.
"I think it's a tragic story, in a couple of senses," says Nelson City Police chief Dan Maluta.
"It closes by glorifying what happened with these kids, how they became overnight millionaires before they were incarcerated and wasted their lives. I also think it's tragic because it brings more infamy to Nelson than fame. I don't think we generally want to be known for this."
The city's top cop says he doubts $38-million of marijuana came from the City of Nelson itself. The marijuana trade is a "B.C.-wide phenomenon," says Maluta, who says he was not familiar with the Coeur D'Alene case. There were no arrests made in Canada.
In his article entitled "The Tale of Kid Cannabis", Rolling Stone contributing editor Mark Binelli writes: "Rumour had it that the town of Nelson had become a sort of hippie Shangri-La, a place where if you took more than ten minutes to find someone to sell you a dime bag, there was a good chance you were already high."
The salacious tale and Binelli's punchy style speak to Rolling Stone's target market. Sixty per cent of the magazine's 1.3 million readers are men, 63 per cent between the ages of 18 and 34. Its website, RollingStone.com, bills the title as "The Voice of Youth Culture," a cultural icon and the U.S.'s number one pop culture reference point for 12.2 million young adults."
Maluta says considering the number of young Americans who party and holiday in Nelson, especially students from the numerous big U.S. universities within a day's drive of town, he's concerned the Rolling Stone article "will draw the wrong demographic" here, "for the wrong reasons."
"I'm not saying all youth who smoke pot are hardened criminals," says the NCP Chief, "not in the slightest."
"However, generally speaking, people who are willing to break the law on one front are willing to break the law or bend the rules on another front."
Binelli described Baker Street's Holy Smoke Culture Shop, with its outdoor portrait of reggae legend Peter Tosh "large enough to rival Soviet-era portraits of Lenin," as "a second City Hall."
"Hikers, snowboarders and potheads come to Nelson from all over the continent to openly smoke weed and buy various strains of B.C. Bud," Binelli penned.
Like Maluta, Mayor Dave Elliott stresses that the marijuana trade is a nation-wide problem. But the mayor admits the article could make Nelson sound like the centre of the illegal pot industry, "if you read it that way."
"I don't think it shines a very good light on us," adds city councillor and mayoral candidate John Dooley. "What worries me is the social impact, rather than the reputation the city's going to get out of it. A lot of younger people are getting involved with this."
"While it's concerning for Nelson to be mentioned in a story such this - - such a sad story of young lives making wrong choices and ending up in jail - Nelson has such a positive image, world-wide, it does not define us," says mayoral candidate Marianne Bond. "What defines us is so much more - so many rich and positive things - we just need to keep focused on those."
Binelli suggests the city's reputation as a liberal-minded community puts it on the map.
"When I tell people about Nelson, they can't believe there's even a place like it anywhere in the word," he told the NDN from New York, earlier this week. "They want to go there."
With that image in mind, the writer feels the story sheds a positive light on the city.
"Maybe not in the way that the chamber of commerce would like to see, but..." he laughs.
"I think it's unfortunate that that kind of stuff usually overshadows so much of the positives we do have to offer as a community," says Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce president Russell Stocks.
"People may stay away because of the picture [the article] painted."
Asked if the city's counter-culture image might be viewed as a tourist draw, likened to similar images of international tourist destinations like San Francisco and Amsterdam, some say it just might.
"It may," Stocks admits.
"But I don't think that's what we want to portray. We've got a great arts and culture city. That's where we need to shine."
"It's often been said that any kind of publicity is good publicity," Elliott adds.
"This story certainly wasn't negative. It simply said there are some people in the region [who are in the drug trade]. I think all publicity can in some ways be positive. I certainly wouldn't want to encourage more of this, but overall it's not hugely negative."
Elliott says the region has had a marijuana-friendly reputation for many, many years.
"It's underground, it doesn't cause us huge problems. And it's a reality of society these days. Pot is a lesser evil, when you consider crystal meth and cocaine and heroin. Those things really worry me."
On the city's infamous trade and its ensuing press, Stocks adds: You dance with the devil, and you're going to get burnt."
Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Nelson Daily News
Contact: news@nelsondailynews.com
Website: https://www.nelsondailynews.com/
But some are leaning towards the "any press is good press" analogy in a bid to put a more positive spin on a story that implicates the Heritage City region as the source for millions of dollars worth of marijuana trafficked by a young gang of smugglers based out of Coeur D'Alene Idaho. The gang reportedly trafficked $38-million worth of pot before they were arrested and jailed.
"I think it's a tragic story, in a couple of senses," says Nelson City Police chief Dan Maluta.
"It closes by glorifying what happened with these kids, how they became overnight millionaires before they were incarcerated and wasted their lives. I also think it's tragic because it brings more infamy to Nelson than fame. I don't think we generally want to be known for this."
The city's top cop says he doubts $38-million of marijuana came from the City of Nelson itself. The marijuana trade is a "B.C.-wide phenomenon," says Maluta, who says he was not familiar with the Coeur D'Alene case. There were no arrests made in Canada.
In his article entitled "The Tale of Kid Cannabis", Rolling Stone contributing editor Mark Binelli writes: "Rumour had it that the town of Nelson had become a sort of hippie Shangri-La, a place where if you took more than ten minutes to find someone to sell you a dime bag, there was a good chance you were already high."
The salacious tale and Binelli's punchy style speak to Rolling Stone's target market. Sixty per cent of the magazine's 1.3 million readers are men, 63 per cent between the ages of 18 and 34. Its website, RollingStone.com, bills the title as "The Voice of Youth Culture," a cultural icon and the U.S.'s number one pop culture reference point for 12.2 million young adults."
Maluta says considering the number of young Americans who party and holiday in Nelson, especially students from the numerous big U.S. universities within a day's drive of town, he's concerned the Rolling Stone article "will draw the wrong demographic" here, "for the wrong reasons."
"I'm not saying all youth who smoke pot are hardened criminals," says the NCP Chief, "not in the slightest."
"However, generally speaking, people who are willing to break the law on one front are willing to break the law or bend the rules on another front."
Binelli described Baker Street's Holy Smoke Culture Shop, with its outdoor portrait of reggae legend Peter Tosh "large enough to rival Soviet-era portraits of Lenin," as "a second City Hall."
"Hikers, snowboarders and potheads come to Nelson from all over the continent to openly smoke weed and buy various strains of B.C. Bud," Binelli penned.
Like Maluta, Mayor Dave Elliott stresses that the marijuana trade is a nation-wide problem. But the mayor admits the article could make Nelson sound like the centre of the illegal pot industry, "if you read it that way."
"I don't think it shines a very good light on us," adds city councillor and mayoral candidate John Dooley. "What worries me is the social impact, rather than the reputation the city's going to get out of it. A lot of younger people are getting involved with this."
"While it's concerning for Nelson to be mentioned in a story such this - - such a sad story of young lives making wrong choices and ending up in jail - Nelson has such a positive image, world-wide, it does not define us," says mayoral candidate Marianne Bond. "What defines us is so much more - so many rich and positive things - we just need to keep focused on those."
Binelli suggests the city's reputation as a liberal-minded community puts it on the map.
"When I tell people about Nelson, they can't believe there's even a place like it anywhere in the word," he told the NDN from New York, earlier this week. "They want to go there."
With that image in mind, the writer feels the story sheds a positive light on the city.
"Maybe not in the way that the chamber of commerce would like to see, but..." he laughs.
"I think it's unfortunate that that kind of stuff usually overshadows so much of the positives we do have to offer as a community," says Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce president Russell Stocks.
"People may stay away because of the picture [the article] painted."
Asked if the city's counter-culture image might be viewed as a tourist draw, likened to similar images of international tourist destinations like San Francisco and Amsterdam, some say it just might.
"It may," Stocks admits.
"But I don't think that's what we want to portray. We've got a great arts and culture city. That's where we need to shine."
"It's often been said that any kind of publicity is good publicity," Elliott adds.
"This story certainly wasn't negative. It simply said there are some people in the region [who are in the drug trade]. I think all publicity can in some ways be positive. I certainly wouldn't want to encourage more of this, but overall it's not hugely negative."
Elliott says the region has had a marijuana-friendly reputation for many, many years.
"It's underground, it doesn't cause us huge problems. And it's a reality of society these days. Pot is a lesser evil, when you consider crystal meth and cocaine and heroin. Those things really worry me."
On the city's infamous trade and its ensuing press, Stocks adds: You dance with the devil, and you're going to get burnt."
Source: Nelson Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Nelson Daily News
Contact: news@nelsondailynews.com
Website: https://www.nelsondailynews.com/
