Pubdate: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2005 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Martin Cash Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) MANITOBA MARIJUANA PROVING BIG EXPORT MANITOBA is the source of an increasing amount of marijuana on the streets of North Dakota, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The recently released DEA report on North Dakota says that drug gangs from B.C. and Manitoba are using the sparsely populated North Dakota/Manitoba border region to slip the drugs across the border. Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the DEA and other U.S. agencies say there is increasing evidence from drug busts in North Dakota that the amount of pot originating from Manitoba has increased dramatically. He said the province needs to do a better job stopping the large-scale grow-ops in Manitoba. "We are lax in highway presence," Goertzen said. "There are massive grow-ops in rural Manitoba -- in WestMan and EastMan. They have to clamp down on those grow-ops and make sure the drugs are not on the highways." Goertzen acknowledged that police have been successful lately in shutting down some large large-ops in rural Manitoba, but said there needs to be a greater police presence on the highways and at the border. He said there is also continuing concern about cocaine, crystal meth and guns coming into Canada from across the U.S. border. Justice minister Gord Mackintosh said the opposition critic was mostly criticizing the U.S. border patrol because they are the ones responsible for controlling what enters the U.S. But he said police agencies in Manitoba have taken steps to realign units to focus on both gangs and drugs at the same time and there has been some success in intercepting drugs on the highway at Falcon Lake and Headingley. Mackintosh was also concerned about having the federal justice department toughen the mandatory minimum penalties for large-scale grow-ops and grow-ops run by organized crime. "We have been demanding a change, and we have not seen much action," he said. "U.S. penalties for marijuana production are far stronger than Canadian penalties." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake