JUDGE TOUGH ON GROW OPERATION

VANCOUVER -- A Winnipeg man has been sentenced in Vancouver to two years in
jail for growing pot -- eight times the sentence sought by the Crown.

The judge said yesterday he decided on a tougher sentence because of the
proliferation of marijuana grow operations in British Columbia and the
increasing problem of home invasions.

Police found 131 marijuana plants at the home of Jason Sean Neubert after
crooks staged a home invasion there in late 1997.

Neubert was convicted of production of a controlled substance and
possession for the purposes of trafficking.

Justice Allan Stewart said in the past people convicted in pot growing
operations have faced insignificant sentences.

He also says the courts must react to what he called a "plague of home
invasions."