'WE JUST WANTED THE FACTS'

RCMP Defends Controversial Grow-Op Study Under Attack For Burying Key Findings

TORONTO -- The RCMP is defending its decision to spend $110,000 on a
high-profile study that warned of the increasing dangers of marijuana
grow-ops in British Columbia and was headed by a criminologist with
extensive links to police forces in North America.

Insp. Paul Nadeau said the funds were a good use of RCMP resources and
insisted the police force gave Darryl Plecas "total freedom" to conduct his
research.

"We just wanted the facts," said Nadeau, who heads the RCMP's B.C.
co-ordinated marijuana enforcement.

Plecas, an experienced criminologist at the University College of the
Fraser Valley, updated his previous study -- also commissioned by the RCMP
- -- and examined police and prosecution statistics about marijuana
cultivation in British Columbia from 1997 to 2003.

The two studies cost $250,000.

The widely reported update, released this month, described marijuana
grow-ops as a growing "risk to public safety," and called for more criminal
justice resources to deal with the issue, as well as stiffer jail sentences.

But critics say the report buries key findings that seem to contradict
police claims that grow-ops pose a growing danger to the public.

"Who else was going to fund this type of project?" asked Plecas, who flatly
rejected any suggestion the study was not independent. "Just because police
put in the money, it doesn't mean they want a whitewash."

Plecas stressed that he does research for a wide variety of participants in
the criminal justice system.

Some experts said the identity of a study's sponsor or sponsors is
important to keep in mind when assessing the study's legitimacy.

"Motivation affects perception," observed Alan Young, a professor at
Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto who is well known for representing
people in medical marijuana court proceedings. "I always tell my students
to look at who commissioned a report."

Joseph Neuberger, a Toronto lawyer who frequently defends clients charged
in marijuana grow-ops, said "you have to look at more data than what is
provided by the police."

He suggested that the "executive summary" in the study "panders to the
hysteria police are propagating," while there are other findings "buried"
in the 64-page report that confirm what defence lawyers have said
repeatedly about grow-ops.

The report indicates that firearms were seized in six per cent of cases in
B.C. between 1997 and 2003 according to police statistics.

Hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine were found in less than four per cent
of raids. Fires in indoor grow-ops occurred in less than four per cent.

"This was $250,000 of taxpayers' money, essentially for the police to
market their agenda," said Neuberger.