TOUGHER GROW-OP LAW REJECTED

OTTAWA -- A B.C. push for tougher laws against marijuana grow operations
was torpedoed at the weekend Liberal policy convention here by young
activists who concluded the idea had an excessively Conservative bent.

The policy proposal called for changes to federal legislation now before
Parliament that will decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot but
double maximum penalties for major grow operations from seven to 14 years.

The B.C. initiative was that grow-ops have emerged as a significant safety
and crime issue and proposed a minimum two-year federal jail term for major
operators.

But Liberals at a policy workshop Saturday, who had to select a single
resolution to send to all delegates for a vote, decided by a narrow margin
to send a bill advocating decriminalization of the sex trade instead.

Ginny Hasselfield, sponsor of the grow-op resolution, said the failure is
not a defeat.

"I believe the message has been heard and that Parliament will respond,"
Hasselfield, president of the South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale riding,
said Sunday.