JUDGE PUSHES FOR TOUGHER SENTENCES INVOLVING GROW-OPS

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has waded into the debate over sentencing
for marijuana grow-ops, saying sentences are "notorious" for being
ineffective.

Justice Sherman Hood, who made the comments during the sentencing of a
repeat offender in Port Alberni, says the problem in B.C. has become
"critical."

In a section of the written judgment concerning Edmund Ross Readhead
entitled "Should the range of sentences be increased," he says the
answer is yes.

"It is notorious . . . that over the past decade or so the sentences,
for these serious offences, generally have been ineffective," he said.
"The sentences have not reflected the gravity of the offences given
their increasing prevalence at the time, nor have they protected the
public or, indeed, the integrity of the administration of justice."

He said that in "countless cases" the grow-op industry is thriving and
is a high-profit industry while at the same time low-risk for
traffickers or growers. "What happens, if they are caught and
convicted, is little more than a slap on the wrist, which is perceived
as a very small cost or price of doing a very lucrative business. The
industry also has a negative impact on local communities and
constitutes a serious danger to those communities." Hood sentenced
Readhead, 44, to 21/2 years in prison after a "modest, but obviously
sophisticated" grow-op was found in his home in Port Alberni on Jan.
19, 2005. Police seized 59 plants valued at between $35,000 and
$40,000. It was Readhead's fourth conviction for a pot-related offence.