Pubdate: Thu, 29 May 2003
Source: Richmond News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003, Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.richmond-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1244
Author: Darah Hansen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

POT LAWS WON'T SLOW HARVEST

Getting busted with a few joints in your pocket won't leave you with a 
criminal record if a federal Liberal bid to decriminalize small amounts of 
pot is passed by Parliament.

But neither will such a bill stem the explosion of marijuana 
grow-operations in Richmond and Lower Mainland, says Canadian Alliance MP 
for Delta-South Richmond John Cummins.

"It's one of those issues that I don't think has been thought out as 
clearly as it should have been," Cummins said Tuesday after the legislation 
was introduced in the House of Commons. "I think the first priority really 
has to be addressing these grow-operations. That's the biggest problem out 
here right now."

Under the Liberal bill, possessing a small amount of marijuana will land 
you a fine, but no criminal charges. It also calls for a decrease in the 
maximum jail sentence imposed for growers with less than 25 plants, from 
seven years to five.

Cummins said that sends the wrong message to those engaged in the marijuana 
trade.

"It's an indicator that the government isn't taking these issues 
seriously," he said. "And this is a serious matter."

Busting grow-ops in Richmond is full-time work for the marijuana production 
unit of the RCMP.

Some 50 cases have gone forward to be dealt with in the courts since the 
team was introduced last September - a fraction of the illegal grows police 
know are out there.

Of those, said Corp. Sanjaya Wijayakoon, head of the Richmond unit, only 
about one in 20 cases are of the smalltime mom-and-pop variety. The 
overwhelming majority, he said, "are all organized-crime related on some 
level."

Wijayakoon can never see a day when his line of work will run dry.

Demographically, teenagers, age 13 to 19 years, make up a huge portion of 
those buying and smoking pot and it's unlikely, he said, that government 
will ever completely legalize their access.

"So there will always be this huge, huge black market."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager