Pubdate: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Author: Arthur Williams, Reporter With the Prince George Free Press JUDGES' HANDS TIED IN ORGANIZED CRIME Want to earn good money working out of your own home? You could become part of the exciting 'growth' industry of marijuana cultivation. No experience or training is required, just add fertilizer and heat lamps and watch your profits grow! Criminal record? No problem! You'll be working with your fellow repeat offenders in the exciting world of organized crime. All your profits are undeclared and tax-free, so you can even collect welfare while you work. You can start with as few or as many plants as you want - grow weed in your spare time to supplement your income. Ideal for stay-at-home parents. Worried about being arrested? Don't be. Current sentences for marijuana growers rarely include jail time, so you can be back growing pot in no time. Call now for your free information brochure, and as part of a limited time offer, we'll include a packet of seeds at no cost to you! The lenient sentencing of grow-op owners in B.C. may as well be an advertisement for organized crime. In a recent ruling, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sherman Hood said slap-on-the-wrist sentences have made marijuana grow-ops a lucrative, low-risk criminal industry. Hood called the situation a crisis which can only be solved by increasing sentences to include serious jail time. Hood was ruling in the case of Port Alberni pot grower Edmond Ross Readhead who was caught with 59 marijuana plants in his home. It was Readhead's fourth drug-related conviction. Readhead will serve two-and-a-half years for his misdeeds and will be eligible for parole in less than a year-and-a-half. But what's the problem? It's just a little bit of weed, right? No harm done. Wrong. New varieties of marijuana being sold today have much higher levels of THC, the chemical which gives marijuana users their high. It that's not enough, organized crime groups such as the Renegades and the Hells Angels are raking in huge profits from the sale of weed - - money they can reinvest in other criminal activities like selling hard drugs, running guns and prostitution. If your cell phone, credit card, car or bicycle has been stolen recently, odds are it was used to finance some junkie's drug habit. Currently judges' hands are tied by existing laws and legal precedent. It's time for the lawmakers in Ottawa to get serious about combatting organized crime and give judges such as Justice Hood the laws to put marijuana growers and their bosses behind bars. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine