Pubdate: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2002, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: David Gamble, Parliamentary Bureau POLICE URGE FEDS TO GET OFF THE POT Criminals are getting off too easy as neighbourhoods across Canada are endangered by huge secret pot growing operations, police groups charged yesterday. And the Liberal government's possible decriminalization of marijuana will only make things worse, charged David Griffin, executive director of the Canadian Police Association. Griffin and others called on the federal government to beef up the Criminal Code and impose jail time for those convicted of turning 50,000 Canadian homes into marijuana "grow houses." The operations, which often generate up to $500,000 worth of marijuana per house each year, are mainly controlled by crime gangs and much of the marijuana is smuggled into the United States. "We'd like to see some minimum sentences to give judges direction that this is a serious crime," Griffin said. If Justice Minister Martin Cauchon follows through and actually decriminalizes pot, that would further dilute the seriousness of the offence of running a grow house, Griffin argued. The calls for action came just days after a series of police raids across Canada netted more than 73,000 plants valued at $73 million. STIFFER SENTENCES "It's quite discouraging for law enforcement when we are seeing conditional sentences and even fines," said Sgt. Mike Laviolette, an Ottawa police officer seconded to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada. Det. Mike Klimm of York Regional Police said sentences for possession for the purpose of trafficking and production of a controlled substance run between seven and 15 years in the United States. "Up until recently, in Ontario we were getting conditional sentences like house arrest. We're now starting to see real jail terms from nine months to a year for a first offence," Klimm said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom