AT THE LEGISLATURE

It doesn't seem like much of a victory, pushing marijuana grow-ops out of
the Lower Mainland and into places like Salmon Arm.

Likewise the news that gangs are closing basement grow operations and
opening up labs to make chemical drugs like Ecstasy doesn't seem
particularly positive.

And it's hard to celebrate more turf wars, violent rip-offs and home
invasions within the drug world as a sign of progress.

But B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency reported this week that all three
developments show that their efforts are working. The new agency says it
has targeted Asian gangs and bikers - mostly the Hell's Angels - and taken
particular aim at the huge marijuana industry.

How huge?

The crime agency says there are 15,000 to 20,000 grow operations in B.C.
There are only about one million houses and apartment buildings. That means
that anytime you can see up and down a long block, the statistics say
you're looking at someone's marijuana business.

And the agency puts the value of the trade - the wholesale value - at $6
billion. That's more than three times what we spent for alcohol last year,
more than all the income taxes levied by the province and $1,500 for every
person in B.C.

That suggests some realities. The first is that criminal organizations are
going to be attracted to the business. That's a huge amount of money
floating around an unregulated marketplace. The crime unit offers little
evidence to debunk the belief that most grow operations are simply another
form of small, illegal business. But the attraction for organized crime
groups is obvious.

The second is that the marijuana industry is deeply entrenched in the
economy and widely accepted. It's tough to have a $6-billion industry
without public tolerance.

And the third is that this is probably a losing battle. By the agency's
counts, at least one out of every $20 generated by the B.C. economy is
being made in the marijuana industry. That's $6 billion a year that's being
spent in communities. Yank that much money out of circulation and you give
the economy a ferocious whack.

And while enforcement is having an effect, it doesn't appear to be having a
lasting impact on crime. The agency has only charged 112 people since its
inception, although it's fair to remember the agency has been targeting key
players.

And as the agency notes, much of the success has been in making it tougher
for people to be in the marijuana business. They've moved out of Vancouver
with grow operations, had to develop new, riskier transit routes to the
U.S. and started fighting with each other more. And the organized gangs
have switched from growing pot to manufacturing methamphetamine and
Ecstasy. That just doesn't seem like a victory.

The challenge is to come up with an approach that ensures that the focus is
on stopping activities that pose the greatest threat to public safety,
rather than simply changing the nature of crime in B.C.