DRUG RINGS GROW MORE REFINED: RCMP

Mounties Especially Worried About Use Of 'Budder' And 'Cheese'

OTTAWA (CNS) - Organized crime is continuing to fuel the drug trade
in Canada and a new report notes that criminal organizations are
branching out and becoming more sophisticated.

"These organizations are powerful, well-connected and are dealing in
high profit-yielding illicit ventures across the globe," said the
RCMP's Drug Situation Report 2006, released Monday.

The annual report is based on seizure data and investigations
conducted by the RCMP and other enforcement agencies.

The report found that organized crime is a driving force behind an
expanding drug trade in Canada. Whereas in previous years criminal
groups specialized in just one drug, now they are spreading out and
involved in dealing multiple drugs -- importing and exporting.

The report provides an overview of the drug trade in Canada and
highlights new and emerging trends.

Cannabis products, including marijuana and hashish, represent the
world's largest illicit drug market, with approximately 160 million
customers around the world.

That market, specifically the production of marijuana, is flourishing
in Canada, according to the RCMP report. Demand for pot is high at
home and abroad, particularly in the United States, the report found.

Statistics Canada however, reported a decrease of four per cent in
cannabis-related offences in 2006. The report said there has been a
noticeable decline of pot seizures in British Columbia since 2003 but
the number of seizures in Ontario and Quebec remain stable. The three
provinces are responsible for 90 per cent of the marijuana grown in Canada.

The report noted several emerging trends in 2006 in the marijuana
market. Among them, it found that crime groups are producing
increasingly potent marijuana and there's a shift towards using
private aircraft for smuggling drugs between B.C. and the U.S.

Police are concerned about two new innovations known as "budder" and
"cheese." Budder, made by whipping air into hashish oil and freezing
it, is much more potent when smoked than regular marijuana and
emerged in Vancouver in 2004.

The report said cheese is a deadly combination of heroin and cold
medicine that is inexpensive to make and easier to use because it can
be smoked or snorted rather than injected. Cheese has been blamed for
more than a dozen deaths in the U.S.