RCMP DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL REPORT ON INCREASING DANGER OF GROW-OPS

Critics Say Study Should Look At More Data Than Are Provided By Police
Statistics

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.

Inspector 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 co-ordinated
marijuana enforcement unit in B.C.

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 a total of
$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.

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

The grow-op study refers to three senior RCMP officers as being
"instrumental in the success of this project."

Plecas flatly rejected any suggestion the study was not independent. He
stressed he does research for a wide variety of participants in the
criminal justice system.

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

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

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