TWO-YEAR SENTENCE FOR MAIL-ORDER POT SCHEME

A Langford man has been sentenced to two years for operating a
mail-order marijuana business, part of a vast new criminal enterprise
operating in Canada.

Kendell Arthur Berntson pleaded guilty to exporting marijuana in
provincial court in Victoria on Friday after already pleading guilty
to trafficking marijuana in December. He was granted 10 months'
credit for time already spent in custody.

Berntson was charged in 2007 for operating a marijuana mail-order
business, sending pot and psilocybin -- magic mushrooms -- to the
U.S., England and Europe.

According to Const. Lindsay Ellis of the RCMP Island Drug Section,
the mail-order marijuana business, often supported by Internet
connections, has become a big business.

"When we started to investigate and got on to the Internet we went
'Wow,'" said Ellis.

She also said the mail-order marijuana is frequently sold by
"compassion clubs." These often-underground organizations offer
marijuana as medicine to people suffering incurable diseases or
conditions, such as Parkinson's disease or AIDS.

Police were first alerted to Berntson's operation by the Whitehorse
Integrated Border Integrity Unit, which had been tipped off by the
U.S. Border Services.