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Why don't they make up their frozen little minds? Lax the laws for
use, but increase penalties for growing? Either legalize it or don't!
WTF?
Scotty
"jlrogers±³©" wrote in message
...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...d=2352&e=3&u=/
csm/20050311/ts_csm/odrugs
TORONTO - On the street it's called Northern Lights, Ontario Hydro,
and
B.C. bud. It's one of Canada's biggest agricultural exports - a
potent form
of marijuana cultivated in sprawling "grow houses," worth an
estimated US$4
billion to $7 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled into the US.
Once hidden in farming communities and well-heeled suburbs, grow
operations - indoor nurseries with high-tech lighting and
temperature
controls - have been thrust into the national spotlight. Thursday
Canada
buried four young Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were
killed
during a bust in rural Alberta March 3.
The Alberta grow house was just one of thousands across Canada. Here
in
Ontario, police say indoor pot operations have risen 250 percent in
the past
four years. And Vancouver is home to some 7,000 "grow ops" at any
time,
police say.
The tragedy - the deadliest incident for Canada's national police
force in
120 years - has ignited debate as Canadians begin to question
whether
liberal attitudes toward marijuana and lenient laws enacted over the
past
two decades have contributed to the drug boom.
"It's really got people talking about the problem," says Marc
Pinault, staff
sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service's drug unit. "It's pretty
clear that
we produce a pile of pot, and it's really good stuff. I don't 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
nurseries
capable of producing pot with nearly 30 times the kick of what was
found on
the street a decade ago, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Sergeant
Pinault says the increasing numbers of massive growing operations -
once
largely the preserve of Asian gangs and bikers on the West Coast -
indicate
the problem is moving East into provinces like Ontario and Quebec.
Tom Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and a member of the
Canadian
Professional Police Association, says criminals across the country
are
modeling their operations after those found in and around Vancouver.
For example, he says, grow houses are increasingly found in upscale
areas of
the city as criminals ply their trade behind picket fences and a
facade of
respectability. Inside, they're a hotbed of danger - rigged with
booby traps
to ward off intruders and noxious chemical compounds that pose
serious
health threats.
But those aren't the only perils. DEA special agent Rodney Benson of
Seattle
says recent busts have also netted a pile of automatic weapons and
explosive
devices.
"We're definitely seeing more violence," explains Mr. Benson, who
recently
oversaw a year long, cross- border sting called Operation Hockey
Bag, in
which investigators charged 22 people and seized more than 400 lbs.
of
marijuana, along with $3.4 million and a dozen firearms. "It's not
just
weapons - it's what we're seeing from the organization. They rule
and
intimidate from within."
RCMP investigators are still sifting through the evidence, trying to
find
out what led to the killing of the four officers last week. The
incident
began as an attempt to repossess a pickup truck but ballooned into a
larger
investigation after the marijuana growing operation was discovered.
The
gunman, Jim Roszko, killed the officers and later turned a
high-powered,
semiautomatic weapon on himself.
Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme
violence -
and they hope to keep it that way. Many, like Mr. Stamatakis of
Vancouver,
say that Canadian lawmakers are too lenient in meting out penalties
for
those involved in growing operations contributing to the drug
explosion.
"When even the outgoing prime minister [Jean Chrétien] makes a
flippant
comment like, 'What's the big deal about marijuana? I've probably
had a few
puffs myself.' That sends the wrong message to the community and the
courts," Stamatakis says.
Softer laws for using, harder for selling
There has been a major push to decriminalize marijuana across the
country in
recent years. Canada was the first country to regulate its medicinal
use, in
1999. However, while the government has recently moved to introduce
softer
penalties for possession, penalties for growers could get stiffer. A
marijuana bill, reintroduced in November, advocates that possession
of up to
15 grams would be punishable by fines of C$100 to C$150 ($85 to
$125), but
would no longer lead to a criminal record.
For growers, those caught with more than three plants, face up to
five years
in jail, or 18 months plus a C$25,000 ($20,700) fine. Those caught
with more
than 25 plants could face 10 years in jail, while the bill provides
a
maximum sentence of up to 14 years for operations with more than 50
plants.
Last week, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan issued a warning in
the wake
of the shootings, telling judges that they will be forced to explain
their
decisions in writing if jail terms are not imposed on those who grow
plants.
Under Canadian laws, criminals face a maximum seven-year jail term.
In
practice, however, many people convicted of growing marijuana
receive
sentences of little more than a few months, police say.
Criminologist Patrick Parnaby says the events of last week are
likely to
lead to stiffer penalties. When something like narcotics is
intimately tied
to violence, there is going to be a powerful public backlash, says
the
associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
"Stricter laws
will make the public feel a whole lot better," he says.
But many users pushing for decriminalization couldn't disagree more.
Blair
Longley, leader of the federal Marijuana Party, says legalization
would wipe
out criminal enterprises across the country.
"They've just used this [the Alberta shootings] as an excuse to
crack down
and enforce outdated laws," says Mr. Longley. "In reality,
liberalizing the
laws would mean you would get rid of almost all the profits and,
therefore,
all the crime."
--
jlrogers±³©
Beaten by George W. Bush! Now that's funny!
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