B.C. POLICE INSPIRED PENALTIES

Solicitor-General Notes Frustration Over Sentences

Wayne Easter in Ottawa Tuesday announced elimination of criminal penalties
for simple possession of marijuana, but tougher ones for growers and dealers.

OTTAWA -- The federal government's move to double penalties for marijuana
grow operations was inspired by complaints from RCMP officers in B.C. who
are struggling to contain the surge in growing operations,
Solicitor-General Wayne Easter said Tuesday.

The new federal drug strategy will increase the maximum penalty for
grow-ops from seven to 14 years, as well as provide $26 million over five
years to create a handful of RCMP "anti-grow-op teams."

"I've been to the Vancouver grow operations and I've listened to the
frustration of police in terms of the need for greater resources for
enforcement, and the need for stronger penalties," Easter told a news
conference.

"And when you sit down and talk to police officers, and they outline to you
the frustration of the sentences coming out of the court system, we
recognized that something has to be done and we're doing that in this
package today."

RCMP Staff-Sergeant Paul Marsh said at least one of the teams would be
based in the Lower Mainland, though he said no further details could be
provided until the Mounties are formally told how much money they will receive.

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White said a half-dozen police teams won't be
enough to contain the grow-op industry that is concentrated in B.C.,
Ontario, and Quebec, and is largely controlled by Asian gangs and outlaw
motorcycle organizations.

White (Langley-Abbotsford) also said tougher sentences won't do much good
when judges routinely hand out minimum sentences, although Easter disputed
that argument.

"The courts interpret the intent of the law, and let me be very, very
clear," Easter said.

"The intent of this law is for greater enforcement and for the courts to
impose greater penalties as outlined in the law."

Easter noted that the legislation will require judges to provide reasons
why imprisonment was not imposed when someone is found with more than three
plants and one of several aggravating factors were present.

Those factors include the use of traps or explosives to deter intruders and
police or to destroy evidence, the use of property such as farm land owned
by others, and running an operation that creates a public safety hazard,
especially for children.

The federal government will establish four separate offences to replace the
single existing offence, which provides for a sentence of up to seven years
for anyone found growing cannabis.

- - An individual found with three or fewer plants could be subject to a fine
of $5,000 and a year in jail.

- - Four to 25 plants could trigger a fine of $25,000 and 18 months in jail
if the person is charged for a summary conviction offence, or five years
less a day if pursued by indictment.

- - A grower found with 26 to 50 plants would face a maximum 10 years in jail.

- - Anyone with more than 50 plants could face a sentence of 14 years.

"In recent years marijuana cultivation has turned into a serious business
for organized crime in North America," according to a federal background
document.

"Grow operations are moving indoors, often in residential areas. These
operations create unacceptable safety risks."

A recent RCMP report concluded that lax laws and paltry sentences have made
Canada, and especially B.C., a haven for growing operations run by
organized crime groups.

The analysis also warned of a possible violent turf war between the Hells
Angels and organized crime groups of Vietnamese origin, who during the
1990s took a dominant role in indoor grow operations.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada show that 44 per cent of Canada's
cultivation "incidents" are reported in B.C., compared with 28 per cent in
Quebec and 16 per cent in Ontario.

The RCMP report cites a study by the University College of the Fraser
Valley, which examined close to 12,000 pot cases in B.C. between 1997 and 2000.

Jail terms were imposed in only 18 per cent of the cases and the average
length of the jail term was just under five months.