GROW-OPS GO EAST, AS DRUG CASES COME WEST

A Vancouver police crackdown on marijuana home-grow operations is forcing
indoor cultivators to move to Ontario.

But Vancouver is bracing for an influx of drug addicts and traffickers from
Burnaby.

The Vancouver police board heard yesterday that a campaign against
home-grows is causing operators to flee east.

Chris Taulu, co-ordinator of the Collingwood Policing Centre, said she is
getting calls from Ontario that suggest some Vancouver growers have
decamped to Ottawa, Kitchener and other points east.

Balancing any outflow of bad persons is an expected inflow of drug users
and traffickers when drug cases are transferred form Burnaby to Vancouver's
already-overcrowded provincial court.

Inspector Ken Frail said: "We are very concerned about the impact on the
Downtown Eastside, where we are trying hard to curb drug activity."

The expected transfer of drug cases from Burnaby is a consequence of the
B.C. government's policy of closing courts it considers surplus.

Frail said one result could be that Vancouver police will spend more time
in court waiting for cases to be heard, because delays will lengthen. This
will rob the force of officers on the street.

District commander Insp. Al Niedtner said: "We need assistance if Burnaby
drug courts move to Vancouver. It will be a massive problem and our
resources only go so far."

He said he is worried that the provincial and federal governments may not
display the vigour that the looming situation warrants. "The foundations
may already be crumbling," he warned.

Taulu said provincial court in Vancouver is already clogged with cases and
criminals are getting inconsequential sentences.

She described two defendants she called "very bad guys" who made their
first court appearances last September and have yet to come to trial. She
said the judicial system is complicated and rife with delays.

Proceedings against drug traffickers may be stayed. Where cases do proceed
and defendants are found guilty, punishment may be probation or a
conditional sentence.

"The message that bad guys will be punished isn't being delivered," Taulu said.

She cited one case involving a serious cocaine trafficker who was sentenced
to 240 hours of community service and placed on probation.

Prostitutes found guilty of solicitation get one-day jail sentences. The
deterrent effect is negligible, "as we see the same names over and over
again," Taulu said.