CANADA'S DRUG-CHARGE CAPITAL

Thunder Bay: National Rate Hits Two-Decade High

British Columbia led the country in a 10-year surge in marijuana-related
offences, as Canada's drug crime rate reached its highest level in two
decades, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

Police laid 92,590 drug charges -- two-thirds for drug possession -- in
2002. This rate of police activity has not been seen since the early 1980s,
when the United Nations reported the rate of drug offences to be the
highest in the world.

While all drug offences increased 42% between 1992 and 2002, those
involving marijuana jumped 81% in the decade.

British Columbia had the highest rate of drug offences in 2002. Spurred by
enforcement in Vancouver and Victoria, the province had 544 drug offences
per 100,000 people -- almost double the national average.

Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, the second- and third-busiest provinces,
had 351 incidents and 343 incidents respectively.

Halifax Deputy Police Chief Chris McNeil, chairman of the drug abuse
committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the upward
trend is due to the proliferation of marijuana grow operations, the latest
scourge facing police forces.

"It could be as simple as increased access. We've seen the number of
grow-ops increase tenfold," Deputy Chief McNeil said.

Criminologist Neil Boyd, of British Columbia's Simon Fraser University,
said the rate of drug use, which the survey does not measure, has grown
since 1990 but has not reached a peak last seen in the 1970s.

Mr. Boyd, a leading authority on Canadian drug activity, said the survey
also highlights questions faced by lawmakers who must decide whether to
soften legislation governing marijuana use.

While offences involving cannabis have increased, enforcement rates
involving cocaine, heroin and other drugs such as Ecstasy, amphetamines or
LSD, have all declined in the past decade.

"If you look at all offences for drugs and take cannabis out of the
equation, it's a simple problem," Mr. Boyd said.

The majority of police services, including the Canadian Association of
Chiefs of Police, have rejected arguments favouring the decriminalization
of marijuana. New federal legislation could see users face only a fine.

People aged 18 to 24 comprised 41% of all drug cases in adult court.

Deputy Chief McNeil rejected the argument that marijuana is a casual drug
that does not lead to increased drug use.

"We've long taken the position that marijuana is not a benign drug," he
said. "The notion that [marijuana-enforcement rates] represent one young
person smoking their first joint ever is not my experience."

The Northern Ontario city of Thunder Bay, with a population of 114,000, had
the highest rate of enforcement of any Canadian city. It was significantly
higher than both Vancouver and Victoria, two cities known for drug
production and use.

Thunder Bay Police Chief Robert Herman said the numbers reflect the
increased resources dedicated to drug enforcement in the past six years.

"What it tells me is that our enforcement is working in an aspect that it's
designed to do, but it reinforces with me that there's an issue here that
has to be dealt with in another way," said Chief Herman, who advocates
decriminalizing marijuana and focusing efforts on education and treatment.

The city operates the Tri-Forces Drug Unit, a joint effort between the
Ontario Provincial Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and city drug
officers. The force conducts long-term projects aimed at infiltrating and
dismantling the source of drugs, as well as street-level sweeps to stamp
out petty users and dealers.

The most prevalent drugs are marijuana and cocaine.

"We do get small pockets of other drugs, but I can't remember the last time
we saw heroin here."

Thunder Bay is located on the Trans-Canada highway, several hours east of
the Manitoba border. Chief Herman described the city as a small, transient
community whose drug market is influenced by the presence of a chapter of
the Hells Angels biker gang.

"Marijuana comes from the West, generally, and cocaine will come from the
East," said Staff-Sergeant Brian Brattengeier of the Tri-Forces Drug Unit.
"We have the same problems as everywhere else ... but we don't find the
violence usually associated with drugs."

Much of the recent drug-related violence has been connected to marijuana
grow operations linked to biker and Vietnamese organized crime groups. A
2002 Criminal Intelligence Service Canada report estimated the two groups
control 85% of marijuana production and distribution in B.C.

The report notes police seized 800 tonnes of marijuana in each of the past
four years, but linking the grow operations to organized crime groups has
"been difficult to establish in the courts as often the people caught are
merely the caretakers of the crop."

While police dedicate resources to eliminating such operations, those
efforts may in fact aid criminal enterprises, Mr. Boyd said. "If we get
tough on grow-ops, that's good for organized crime because the
profitability of the drug increases and it can boost prices. But it's bad
news for society. We've already got people sitting in houses with baseball
bats. We have to take the profit out of the trade."