Pubdate: Tue, 02 Jul 2002
Source: Elk Valley Miner, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Elk Valley Miner
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/1237
Note: No known website. Contact data not verified
Author: Paul Willcocks

GROW OP INDUSTRY LEAVING POLICE BEHIND

VICTORIA - Marijuana grow ops are popping up faster than police can hope to 
deal with them, according to a new report done for the RCMP by a university 
crime expert.

The study which looked at almost 12,000 grow op reports from every area of 
the province over four years, found police can't cope with the burgeoning 
industry.

The business is probably the province's fastest growing with the number of 
operations that police discover growing by an average 36 per cent a year, 
the report found.

Operations are growing larger and more sophisticated, with the average size 
increasing at 40 per cent a year.  Solicitor General Rich Coleman has 
called for tougher laws against grow ops.  Coleman said less than one in 
five people, convicted of running grow ops in  B.C. serves any jail time.

But in Washington State almost half those convicted get a jail term of five 
years or more, he said.

"They're sending a totally different message relative to their acceptance 
of this particular activity in their economy," said Coleman.

Chuck Beyer of the B.C. Marijuana Party said the U.S. is the last place to 
look for an example.

The U.S. has seven times as many citizens in jail as Canada on a per capita 
basis, he said, in part because of tough drug sentences. Canada would have 
to build seven times as many prisons and jail thousands of citizens to 
match the U.S. approach, he said.

"And it's not working," Beyer said.  "They haven't cut down drug use." The 
real answer is to legalize marijuana, he said.  The study found the average 
seizure-166 live plants and 3.7 kg of marijuana-is worth somewhere between 
$100,000 and $130,000.  Firearms were found in about six per cent of cases. 
During the four-year period, police seized 1.2 million plants and 8.6 
tonnes of dried marijuana, worth between $500 million and $1 billion 
depending on prices.

Darryl Plecas of the University College of the Fraser Valley was part of 
the study team.

He said the flood of grow ops has overwhelmed police.  Most cases that came 
to police attention resulted from public complaints or an accidental 
discovery while police were investigating an unrelated matter.

"The high volume of marijuana cultivation activity in the province has 
actually hindered police capacity to respond, let alone engage in proactive 
enforcement activities," the report found.

In 2000, police were too overloaded to take action on one-quarter of the 
reports of grow operations.

Police only laid charges in about half of the 8,000 cases they found 
justified.  In most of the rest they simply seized the plants and let the 
growers go.

Out of some 12,000 reported cases, only 2,255 resulted in charges being 
laid.  Only half those people were convicted.  And among those convicted, 
only one in five went to jail with the average sentence of 4.5 months.

The report found that most suspects in the cases reviewed had some prior 
criminal record, with an average of seven convictions.  The report also 
highlighted a growing role for people of Vietnamese origin in the industry 
in the Lower Mainland.

A report last year by the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. warned that 
increasing pressure on grow ops on the Lower Mainland was resulting in them 
moving out into smaller communities.  Criminals were also shifting from 
grow ops to producing drugs like Ecstasy, the report found.

The agency estimates there are 15,000 to 20,000 grow operations in the 
province and said organized crime groups have taken control of many of 
them.  It estimated the industry's value of $6 billion, or 4.5 per cent of 
all economic activity in the province.
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