B.C. JUDGES SOFTER ON POT GROWERS THAN ALBERTA'S

Judges in B.C. are far softer on marijuana growers than their Alberta
counterparts, a Vancouver Province probe shows.

In B.C., people convicted of running major marijuana grow operations
routinely are sentenced to three to six months, and rarely more than a
year.

In Alberta they draw terms of up to four years.

The maximum sentence is seven years.

"I think statistically that is right," said former B.C. Supreme Court
Justice Lloyd McKenzie, who represents judges of the B.C. Supreme
Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal.

"There is a variance of philosophy of sentencing in Alberta and
British Columbia. I know that the fact is that they are inclined to
impose heavier sentences."

McKenzie questioned whether harsher sentences would have any impact on
pot-growing.

And B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal asked: "Is Alberta better
off than we are? There's nothing to indicate that they are."

B.C. police say the disparity in sentencing has turned B.C. into a
mecca for pot farmers.

"We would like to see higher sentences," said Staff-Sgt. Chuck
Doucette of the RCMP's drug awareness program.

"We are saying the drug growers are not being discouraged. They are
coming from other provinces here, organized criminals are getting
involved in marijuana growing because there aren't any
deterrents."

Doucette claimed court sentences in B.C. are so lenient that crooks
who used to distribute hard drugs are now moving here to grow
marijuana because it's a "low-risk, high-profit" venture.

The Province investigation found that B.C. judges are more likely than
Alberta judges to take mitigating factors into account in sentencing,
such as the accused's chances of turning his life around or the need
to care for family members.

Ronald Reimer, head of federal prosecutions for Alberta, said it is
not uncommon for Alberta judges to hand out sentences of three to four
years for large grow operations. Smaller operations draw sentences of
up to 18 months.

Federal Justice department files for the last seven years show one
B.C. judge handed down a three-month sentence to a man growing 1,188
plants. An Alberta judge gave a man with 604 plants 3 1/2 years.