POLICE APPLAUD STIFF SENTENCES FOR POT GROWERS

The stiff sentence imposed on a first-time marijuana grower is long
overdue, says an RCMP drug-fighter, but police are wary about its
impact on Kelowna growers.

Jason Neubert, 30, was sentenced in Vancouver Tuesday to two years
less a day in jail for growing marijuana, eight times the sentence
sought by the Crown.

Police found 131 pot plants at Neubert's home after crooks invaded it
in 1997.

"It would be nice to see if there's some follow-through from other
judges," said RCMP Cpl. Terry McLachlan in Kelowna. "If you get one
precedent-setting judge, it falls by the wayside ... They're so used
to going with the status quo."

The normal sentence for someone who produces marijuana for the
purposes of trafficking in Kelowna is a fine of a few thousand dollars
and possible probation. The penalties are lower than in other
provinces, where first-time offenders can do jail time.

Pot growers sometimes waive their charges to B.C., the largest
exporter of marijuana in Canada, knowing they'll face a fine instead.

"It's the cost of doing business," said McLachlan.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Stewart said the courts should deal
harshly with people who set up illegal drug operations, "thereby
inviting home invasions and putting at risk not just themselves, but
all others," he said.

People engaged in the illegal grow-operation business do it because of
"the potential for high profit, a low risk of detection and an almost
guaranteed insignificant sentence," Stewart said.

Society can't wait for appeal courts to "up the ante" in sentencing
for this crime, he said.

"Change must start here at the trial level," he said. "The court must
react. There is not time to wait for a top-down upping of the ante."

Neubert's lawyer was out of the country for the hearing, but the
sentence will likely be appealed. Kelowna lawyer Martin Johnson, who
has defended several operators of marijuana grows, called the two-year
sentence "excessive."

"To me, it demonstrates a very linear approach to a very grave social
problem," he said.

"This is one case with one judge and the matter will be appealed. It
doesn't represent a new standard. It represents one jurist's
interpretation of a very large social problem."

Stewart expressed no sympathy for the view that it's unfair to single
Neubert out for a harsher sentence than the usual penalties handed
down in other marijuana grow-op cases.

"The accused chose to engage in unlawful conduct," he said. "Once you
engage in unlawful conduct, you lose the right to whine."

McLachlan estimates at least 200 grow operations are flourishing in
the Central Okanagan.

The profit margin is huge. If tended properly, a 50-plant operation
can fetch $50,000 per crop, three times a year.

And growers aren't long-haired bikers any more.

"They're yuppies, businessmen, stay-at-home moms," McLachlan said.
"They're trying to make an extra dollar."