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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: Marijuana industry booming in Canada
Susan Bourette The Christian Science Monitor
Friday 11 Mar 2005 Ontario police have seen a 250 percent increase in indoor pot operations. TORONTO =96 On the street it's called Northern Lights, Ontario Hydro, and=20 B.C. bud. It's one of Canada's biggest agricultural exports - a potent form= =20 of marijuana cultivated in sprawling "grow houses," worth an estimated US$4= =20 billion to $7 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled into the US. Once hidden in farming communities and well-heeled suburbs, grow operations= =20 - indoor nurseries with high-tech lighting and temperature controls - have= =20 been thrust into the national spotlight. Thursday Canada buried four young= =20 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were killed during a bust in=20 rural Alberta March 3. The Alberta grow house was just one of thousands across Canada. Here in=20 Ontario, police say indoor pot operations have risen 250 percent in the=20 past four years. And Vancouver is home to some 7,000 "grow ops" at any=20 time, police say. The tragedy - the deadliest incident for Canada's national police force in= =20 120 years - has ignited debate as Canadians begin to question whether=20 liberal attitudes toward marijuana and lenient laws enacted over the past=20 two decades have contributed to the drug boom. "It's really got people talking about the problem," says Marc Pinault,=20 staff sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service's drug unit. "It's pretty=20 clear that we produce a pile of pot, and it's really good stuff. I don't=20 know that that's something we should be really proud of." Drugs moving east British Columbia has long been the hub of sophisticated, high-tech=20 nurseries capable of producing pot with nearly 30 times the kick of what=20 was found on the street a decade ago, according to the Drug Enforcement=20 Agency. Sergeant Pinault says the increasing numbers of massive growing=20 operations - once largely the preserve of Asian gangs and bikers on the=20 West Coast - indicate the problem is moving East into provinces like=20 Ontario and Quebec. Tom Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and a member of the Canadian=20 Professional Police Association, says criminals across the country are=20 modeling their operations after those found in and around Vancouver. For example, he says, grow houses are increasingly found in upscale areas=20 of the city as criminals ply their trade behind picket fences and a facade= =20 of respectability. Inside, they're a hotbed of danger - rigged with booby=20 traps to ward off intruders and noxious chemical compounds that pose=20 serious health threats. But those aren't the only perils. DEA special agent Rodney Benson of=20 Seattle says recent busts have also netted a pile of automatic weapons and= =20 explosive devices. "We're definitely seeing more violence," explains Mr. Benson, who recently= =20 oversaw a year long, cross- border sting called Operation Hockey Bag, in=20 which investigators charged 22 people and seized more than 400 lbs. of=20 marijuana, along with $3.4 million and a dozen firearms. "It's not just=20 weapons - it's what we're seeing from the organization. They rule and=20 intimidate from within." RCMP investigators are still sifting through the evidence, trying to find=20 out what led to the killing of the four officers last week. The incident=20 began as an attempt to repossess a pickup truck but ballooned into a larger= =20 investigation after the marijuana growing operation was discovered. The=20 gunman, Jim Roszko, killed the officers and later turned a high-powered,=20 semiautomatic weapon on himself. Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence -= =20 and they hope to keep it that way. Many, like Mr. Stamatakis of Vancouver,= =20 say that Canadian lawmakers are too lenient in meting out penalties for=20 those involved in growing operations contributing to the drug explosion. "When even the outgoing prime minister [Jean Chr=E9tien] makes a flippant=20 comment like, 'What's the big deal about marijuana? I've probably had a few= =20 puffs myself.' That sends the wrong message to the community and the=20 courts," Stamatakis says. Softer laws for using, harder for selling There has been a major push to decriminalize marijuana across the country=20 in recent years. Canada was the first country to regulate its medicinal=20 use, in 1999. However, while the government has recently moved to introduce= =20 softer penalties for possession, penalties for growers could get stiffer. A= =20 marijuana bill, reintroduced in November, advocates that possession of up=20 to 15 grams would be punishable by fines of C$100 to C$150 ($85 to $125),=20 but would no longer lead to a criminal record. For growers, those caught with more than three plants, face up to five=20 years in jail, or 18 months plus a C$25,000 ($20,700) fine. Those caught=20 with more than 25 plants could face 10 years in jail, while the bill=20 provides a maximum sentence of up to 14 years for operations with more than= =20 50 plants. Last week, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan issued a warning in the=20 wake of the shootings, telling judges that they will be forced to explain=20 their decisions in writing if jail terms are not imposed on those who grow= =20 plants. Under Canadian laws, criminals face a maximum seven-year jail term.= =20 In practice, however, many people convicted of growing marijuana receive=20 sentences of little more than a few months, police say. Criminologist Patrick Parnaby says the events of last week are likely to=20 lead to stiffer penalties. When something like narcotics is intimately tied= =20 to violence, there is going to be a powerful public backlash, says the=20 associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario. "Stricter laws= =20 will make the public feel a whole lot better," he says. But many users pushing for decriminalization couldn't disagree more. Blair= =20 Longley, leader of the federal Marijuana Party, says legalization would=20 wipe out criminal enterprises across the country. "They've just used this [the Alberta shootings] as an excuse to crack down= =20 and enforce outdated laws," says Mr. Longley. "In reality, liberalizing the= =20 laws would mean you would get rid of almost all the profits and, therefore,= =20 all the crime."
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