Pubdate: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Mark Bonokoski, For the Toronto Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rochfort+Bridge (Rochfort Bridge) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN: RCMP "I hate to say it, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. Over time, the numbers catch up with you." Before an order was issued yesterday that virtually gagged all but selected RCMP spokesmen, RCMP Insp. Paul Nadeau -- head of British Columbia's marijuana enforcement team -- said it was only a matter of time before there was a tragedy such as the one at Mayerthorpe. Other drug cops across the country similarly weighed in on the tragedy in Alberta. Halifax Deputy Police Chief Chris McNeil was sitting in his office on the coast of Nova Scotia -- one province shy of being a country's breadth away from tiny Mayerthorpe. But he was as good as there. In his mind. And in his heart. "The situation in Alberta is devastating, and my heart goes out to them," he says. "But now it is time to grieve. "The debate can wait." It was almost as if McNeil had seen the sign outside the Mayerthorpe high school yesterday -- "Our hearts go out to you" -- as the small rural town of 1,600 tries to deal with the shooting deaths of four local RCMP officers. He hadn't seen the sign, of course. But he does have good reason to envision it. McNeil, a top cop with a lawyer's degree, has a son on his police force; and a brother. Another brother is with the RCMP, in a detachment in the Nova Scotia Valley. "Words cannot do justice to what happened in Alberta," he says. "So it is best not to try." Deputy Chief Chris McNeil is not just a cop from a family of cops. He is chairman of the drug abuse committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, and he knows that marijuana grow-ops have been atop the priority list in police organizations across this country since the mid-'90s. "But we can't get the government and the courts to understand that the risks and the harm of those grow-ops are not being reflected in sentencings," he says. "Every investigation is inherently dangerous -- guns, booby traps. "The final analysis is this: It's too lucrative a business and there are no (punitive) consequences to doing the crime. "That has to change." And that, of course, will be the focus of the "debate" to which McNeil alluded, and one that will have more oxygen to burn now that four young RCMP officers have been gunned down in a small town by a small-town criminal known for his violence and unpredictability. Ron Tavener -- former member of the Toronto police biker squad, long time member of the drug unit, and now superintendent of Toronto's 23 Division -- understood the frustration that was evident in Insp. Paul Nadeau's candidness. "And I agree with him," Tavener says. Supt. Ron Tavener is Deputy Chief Chris McNeil's equivalent on the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. Like McNeil, he chairs his group's drug abuse committee. "There are an estimated 5,000 grow-ops in the GTA alone," Tavener says. "At $1,000 a plant, and three crops a year, you're talking big money with little consequence. "Courts have yet to come to terms with the dangers that such operations present -- from guns, to booby traps ..." To situations like Mayerthorpe? "Yes," Tavener says. "Obviously the tragedy there is foremost in everyone's mind. And that is where it should stay for now. But it also shows what can happen." Barry King is chief of police in Brockville, a picturesque city on the shores of the St. Lawrence. He is also Deputy Chief Chris O'Neil's predecessor as chairman of the drug abuse committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. "Is there an answer?" he says. "How about a strong deterrent? How about mandatory minimums? "What happened in Alberta is a travesty," he says. "Will it bring about a groundswell of support to strengthen sentencing? You bet." Brockville Police Chief Barry King has yet to see someone going down for the long haul as a result of being convicted of running a grow-op in his relatively small city. "The stiffest? How about a house grow-op that was putting out almost $1 million a year (in marijuana)?" he asks. "What about the guy behind it getting a conditional discharge and a period of house arrest? It's unbelievable." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake