NEED FOR A PLAN THAT WORKS

At one time it was a huge nuisance to law enforcement officers, but
in past years marijuana growing has turned into big-league crime that
potentially costs lives.

Experts are reporting a boom in the illegal activity that poses a
danger to both police officers and the public in general.

Not only do these operations pose a serious fire and health risk to
neighbours unknowingly forced to breathe in potentially harmful mould
spores, some are heavily guarded by booby traps and armed thugs,
police officials were reported to say in a recent article from The
Canadian Press.

Roughly six per cent of the approximately 8,000 marijuana grow
operations investigated annually by police involve firearms, while
2.4 per cent of them involve other types of hazards or booby traps,
said Derek Ogden, RCMP chief superintendent and head of the drug and
organized crime unit.

In most cases, these measures are taken by the growers to protect
their crop from being ripped off by so-called pot pirates.

At the same time, over the past couple of decades, the product itself
has changed. More sophisticated breeding techniques have yielded a
drug far more potent - and thus dangerous to health and safety - than
the weed of yesteryear.

It's cause for alarm that will have many examining whether the fight
has maintained the best focus.

The obvious answer would be to see that law enforcement agencies
receive sufficient funding and resources to detect and shut down such
operations.

But this recent boom of such grow-ops suggests nailing them is only
going to get more difficult. That will have many advocating other
alternatives: such as controlled production and sales of the product,
thus taking it out of the hands of the criminals.

It's a horrendous thought, since society doesn't need more
mind-ravaging substances around. But the government will have to
explore its options and come up with a plan that works.