Pubdate: Thu, 18 Dec 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A16
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Colin Freeze

ILLEGAL MARIJUANA OPERATIONS ON THE RISE, POLICE SAY

Law Enforcement Overwhelmed, Report Warns

Ontario's homegrown marijuana industry is an expanding multibillion-dollar 
export business, one that is making gangsters rich as it threatens 
neighbourhoods, taxpayers and children, police said yesterday.

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police released a report on the 
province's marijuana business. In Green Tide: Indoor Marihuana Cultivation, 
police offer their best estimates on a crime that they say is overwhelming 
law enforcement.

According to the report:

The number of grow operations in the province has more than doubled in the 
past two years to as many as 15,000, mostly in homes in suburbs or small 
and medium-sized cities.

Since 2000, as many as 10,000 children have lived in homes that have been 
converted into marijuana factories, which are often located within half a 
kilometre of schools.

These so-called grow ops are estimated to have illicitly generated as much 
as $12.7-billion during the past three years.

At the same time, taxpayers were stuck with paying $260-million, largely 
because of electricity stolen from Ontario utilities by growers who want to 
escape the scrutiny that accompanies large electricity bills.

Typically, rows upon rows of hydroponically grown plants are tended by new 
immigrants and their families, who face increased risk of fires, violent 
robberies and exposure to toxic chemicals.

The findings in the Ontario report are consistent with conclusions reached 
in an RCMP report on national trends last year. While criminal syndicates 
in B.C. pioneered indoor growing in Canada, the practice has proliferated 
across the country in recent years.

One reason is that marijuana cultivation is highly lucrative and it is 
relatively risk free here compared with the United States.

While Americans can face stiff. multiyear jail sentences if convicted of 
growing marijuana, in Canada conditional sentences -- such as house arrest 
or other non-jail punishments -- are the norm.

Authorities estimate a typical grow op can generate $600,000 a year.

Police, who say Ontario's 11 million citizens couldn't possibly smoke the 
entire crop produced in the province, believe there is an increased demand 
for Canada's supply from the United States.

At a press conference at Queen's Park yesterday, police called for tougher 
laws and more public awareness.

Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner Vaughn Collins said that 
marijuana cultivators should face a two-year minimum sentence. While the 
RCMP report clearly places much blame on biker and Vietnamese gangs, Mr. 
Collins said that organized criminals of all stripes are involved in the trade.

Canada's proposed marijuana-decriminalization legislation would have 
actually increased maximum penalties for cultivation, even as it would have 
fined smokers for possession instead of charging them. But the bill died 
when the parliamentary session ended in the fall. A recent court decision 
has made possession a clear criminal offence in Ontario once again, 
overtaking a previous decision that made it impossible for police to charge 
people with marijuana use.
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