COURTENAY JUDGE HITS MARIJUANA GROW OPERATOR WITH $25,000 FINE

A provincial court judge in Courtenay has crafted a sentence he
clearly hopes will attack the marijuana grow industry at its root --
money.

In a decision made public this week, Judge Peter Doherty fined
marijuana grow operator Patrick Joseph Hamilton $25,000 and gave him
six months to pay. Police found 179 plants in the back of Hamilton's
pickup when they stopped him in July 2004.

Doherty noted in his decision it was Hamilton's fourth conviction for
cultivating a narcotic.

The judge said those previous convictions could well earn Hamilton a
prison term but he referred to another case in which a judge wrote
that substantial fines have been overlooked as appropriate sentences
for marijuana cultivators.

In the earlier decision the judge wrote that the free market economy
was working to satisfy the widespread demand for marijuana. Meanwhile,
police and the courts are spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money to
investigate, arrest, try, and incarcerate marijuana grow-operators and
to supervise them during probation.

In the earlier decision the judge wrote it made sense to hit grow
operators with hefty fines so the government can defray the costs of
apprehending and prosecuting them.

Also, as long as fines are heavy enough, it will still promote respect
for the law and denounce illegal conduct.

Doherty wrote that he found the logic "impeccable."

And in the case of Hamilton, he determined, such a sentence might
serve the community well.

Doherty noted Hamilton owns the truck where the marijuana was found
and also owns the acreage property where he grew the marijuana.

Forcing him to take out a loan or mortgage to pay the fine will give
him something to reflect upon.

"Each month he makes a payment would be a reminder to him of his
transgression," wrote Doherty.