SPOTTED FROM ON HIGH

Island Initiative: Takes Aim At Outdoor Pot Grow-ops

Police are taking to the skies once again to crack down on marijuana
grow-operations on Vancouver Island.

Last year the program, which teams RCMP with the military, eradicated
16,500 plants.

"That was from just over 200 sites where marijuana was being illegally
cultivated on Crown land," RCMP Cpl. Greg Cox said.

"This project will reduce the amount of marijuana hitting the streets in
Island communities."

Fields of marijuana are distinctive and easy to spot from helicopters, said
Cox. While the operation focuses on Crown land, that doesn't mean
private-property grow-ops are safe.

"If an operation is spotted on private land, those will be dealt with as well."

Cox wasn't sure what percentage of street-level sales came from the annual
outdoor harvest, but said it was significant.

Increasingly, he said, major criminal groups are behind marijuana
grow-operations.

"It's a growing problem in B.C.," Cox said.

But besides the criminal nature of the grow-ops themselves, outdoor
marijuana operations also have an environmental cost.

Growers often divert streams, use chemical pesticides and fertilizers and
leave garbage strewn around grow sites.

"They just do what they got to do and walk away, leaving the land in bad
shape in some cases."

Outdoor grow-ops are also known to pose a danger because of the use of
booby traps. Cox advises anyone that finds a grow-op to stay clear.

"The best thing would be to turn around, leave the area and inform the police."