REEFER MADNESS: THE WAR ON POT

Delta is the latest Lower Mainland community to target marijuana growing
operations and the police department's drug squad has developed a secret
weapon -- a snitch line.

Police across the Lower Mainland are stepping up their battle against B.C.'s
booming indoor marijuana industry.

But despite devoting more time, more people and more resources to the
effort, the sheer number of pot entrepreneurs in the province leaves police
with a daunting task.

The latest offensive is in Delta, where the police department has tripled
the size of its drug squad and is launching a community-wide campaign to
drive marijuana growers out of its jurisdiction.

The force's secret weapon: a snitch line.

Police plan to mail a pamphlet to all households in the region warning of
the dangers associated with grow houses and containing advice on how to
identify one. A special tip line (940-5027) has been set aside for residents
to report marijuana growers to police.

And how do you spot a drug house?

According to the pamphlet, unless your neighbours are particularly amorous,
heavy condensation on the windows is a good sign. Also look for heavy
traffic in and out at odd hours and windows boarded up (to prevent the
bright light from streaming out).

While Delta has put a lot of effort into a snitch line, police elsewhere say
getting leads on growing operations has never been a problem.

B.C. Hydro tips off local police when electricity bills suddenly skyrocket
in homes. Petty thieves often break into homes where they know there are
growing operations, causing neighbours to report the break-ins to police --
leading the unsuspecting officers right to the dope.

And the "Green Teams" devoted to growing-operation busts in Langley, Surrey
and Coquitlam say they regularly have dozens of rock-solid tips sitting on
their desk that they don't have the resources to follow.

"There's a list of grow ops in the wings that we're just waiting to take
down," said Corporal Janice Armstrong of Surrey RCMP. "It's just a matter of
the time and bodies to do it."

To deal with the heavy workload, growing operations have to be prioritized,
to ensure the biggest are taken down first.

It is less like a cat-and-mouse game than a couple of skinny cats stumbling
upon a few thousand mice: Which ones do they eat?

What worries police are signs that marijuana growing operations, once
amateur efforts in basements, are increasingly being set up and operated by
violent organized crime.

Corporal Scott Rintoul of the RCMP's drug enforcement branch said growing
operations are increasingly looking like chain stores.

"The actual grow rooms are identical from residence to residence across the
Lower Mainland," Rintoul said. The operations use the same layout, same
materials and same wiring -- suggesting a group with experience is setting
up dozens of growing operations at a time.

And, like a chain store's products, marijuana grown here -- often referred
to as "B.C. Bud" -- is developing a brand name for a potency much stronger
than pot grown elsewhere.

Rintoul said investigators know of at least a few occasions when marijuana
grown elsewhere in the world -- such as Ontario or Mexico -- was shipped to
B.C. to be combined with locally grown pot and fetched top dollar as "B.C.
Bud."

While there are still some independent marijuana growers, Rintoul said the
distribution channels have been taken over almost entirely by large crime
syndicates.

"To be able to fill multi-kilo orders, you have to be able to meet demands
weekly," he said.

Dealers are also trading marijuana for cocaine in the U.S. to reduce the
paper trail created by cash, Rintoul said. But he dismissed suggestions that
the two are traded "pound-for-pound."

Increased enforcement by police is having an impact.

Over the past two years, the number of marijuana-growing operations busted
in this province has jumped by almost a thousand from 2,354 to 3,331.

In the first six months of 1999, Coquitlam busted only seven growing
operations. In May, it set up its own Green Team -- netting 42 busts for the
rest of the year.

Corporal Peter Markgraf said Coquitlam had no choice but to establish the
team. While drug trafficking tends to concentrate in the downtown core,
Markgraf said growing operations have invaded quiet residential streets,
causing local residents to demand something be done.

Langley, which set up its team in 1998, saw its busts jump from 50 to 125 in
the space of a year. In 1999, Delta police seized $14 million worth of
marijuana, more than double the $6 million it seizes most years and well
above the $1.6 million it took in the year before.

Vancouver police busted 151 growing operations in the first 10 months of
1999 -- compared to 105 in all of 1998.

Last month, police busted the biggest growing operation in the city's
history -- 2,364 plants, growing in every room of a large house on the west
side. The haul was worth $5 million.

Even quiet West Vancouver, which most years would only find two or three
growing operations, saw that double to six in 1998 and double again to 12
last year.

Much of the product is heading south.

Dave Keller, an intelligence agent with the U.S. border patrol, said agents
in Washington State seized 555 kilograms (1,223 pounds) of southbound
marijuana in 1999. That's nearly double the previous year (314 kilograms or
692 pounds) and more than 10 times the haul the year before that (53
kilograms or 116 pounds).

Back in Delta, where the department has tripled the drug squad from four to
12 officers, deputy police chief Gary West said he is confident the force
can drive growing operations out.

"We want to send a message to anyone who's thinking of coming to Delta that
perhaps they had better not," said West.

While marijuana may have a benign image for some, West said the damage done
by the operations is severe.

Growers use rented homes and install elaborate growing equipment that uses
large amounts of electrical power.

That power is obtained by cutting into hydro lines ahead of the meter. A
number of fires have occurred in North Delta due to faulty wiring.

A growing operation invariably results in houses being badly damaged from
dampness along with the cutting through of walls, chimneys and sewer pipes
to vent out the smell so the operation won't be noticed.

"It's causing a real decay in our community," he said.

While police are increasing the attack on growing operations, some worry the
courts aren't on side.

Last fall, The Vancouver Sun published the results of an investigation into
the sentences given to marijuana growers in Vancouver provincial court over
the past three years.

Only one in five of those convicted were sentenced to time in jail. Most
(58.3 per cent) received a fine -- on average $2,655.97.

"We will be asking the prosecutors for zero tolerance on this. The courts
have to impose heavy penalties considering the impact this is having on the
community," said West.