RCMP DEFENDS GROW OP STUDY

The RCMP is defending its decision to spend $110,000 on a high-profile
study that warned of the increasing dangers of marijuana grow operations 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 co-ordinated
marijuana enforcement unit in B.C.

Plecas, an experienced criminologist at the University College of the
Fraser Valley, examined police and prosecution statistics about marijuana
cultivation in B.C. from 1997 to 2003.

The updated report, released this month, described marijuana grow ops as a
growing "risk to public safety."

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

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. "I always tell my students to look at
who commissioned a report."