POT CULTIVATORS FREE TO GROW

Society Ambivalent About Marijuana, Prof Says

VANCOUVER - Fewer than one in seven people convicted of growing
marijuana in British Columbia over the past two years was sentenced to
any time in jail, according to court statistics provided to the
Vancouver Sun.

The majority of marijuana growers in British Columbia -- 59 per cent
- -- received neither jail time nor a fine. Instead, they received
probation or a conditional sentence to be served at home.

The maximum penalty for growing marijuana is seven years in prison.
There is no minimum sentence.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman said he is disappointed the courts
aren't handing down harsher sentences to marijuana growers.

"We have to recognize that the courts, though independent, have to be
reflective of the needs of the communities they serve," said Coleman.
"It's time that they recognize that the whole business of marijuana
growing, tied into organized crime, is a serious pressure on our
communities."

Neil Boyd, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said
he thinks the lenient sentences handed out to marijuana growers
reflect British Columbians' genuine ambivalence about marijuana.