MARIJUANA GROWERS THRIVE ON B.C.'S LENIENT COURT PENALTIES

Lenient sentences given to marijuana growers by B.C.'s courts are
encouraging criminals to set up shop here and ship their product south of
the border, an official with the U.S. border patrol said Monday.

"It's grown up [in B.C.] because it's much more lenient up there," said
Gene Davis, deputy chief of the U.S. border patrol in Blaine, Wash.

"It makes a much better growing environment up there than down here.
... They've gone north to grow it because it's pretty low risk."

Davis said marijuana smuggling has become a "huge problem" at the U.S.
border. Based on the amount of pot seized -- which the patrol estimates is
no more than 10 per cent of all that is coming across -- Davis estimates
the amount of marijuana being smuggled into the United States from B.C. has
increased tenfold over the past two years.

In fiscal year 1997, Davis said, the patrol seized only 51 kilograms (112
pounds) of marijuana. The following year, it seized more than 272. This
year it has seized 544 kilograms.

On Monday, 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.

The Sun reviewed the cases of 112 people charged with growing marijuana, of
whom 72 were convicted.

Only one in five of those convicted were sentenced to time in jail. Of the
15 who received jail time, 12 were sentenced to 90 days or less. One in
four served no jail time and paid no fine. Most (58.3 per cent) received a
fine. The average fine: $2,655.97.

Davis said he has no doubt that, as criminals learn of B.C.'s lenient
sentences, they are shifting their operations north.

"If you get caught in Washington with only 10 or 12 plants -- you're going
to go to jail," he said. "It's not looked on with much seriousness in Canada."

Earlier this summer, the U.S. government announced it would spend an
estimated $4.5 million US on a sophisticated fibre-optic camera
surveillance system to monitor a 40-kilometre stretch of the
Canada-U.S. border. The system was established in part because of the
amount of B.C.-grown marijuana being smuggled into America.

Meanwhile, a Vancouver police department spokeswoman said Monday that
police were not surprised by the results of the Sun's investigation into
marijuana sentencing.

Constable Anne Drennan said penalties are on the books to deter growing
operations. The maximum penalty for production of marijuana -- Section 7.1
of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act -- is seven years in prison.

"The penalties are there, but they just aren't being handed out. Our
experience has been that, on average, you can expect a $3,000 fine for a
marijuana-growing conviction. At the very outside, three months in jail. We
consider that nothing more than a slap on the wrist."

Drennan said that, unlike simple marijuana possession, growing operations
are very serious. They are a multi-million-dollar business controlled by
organized crime and directly related to the huge amounts of cocaine showing
up on the streets of Vancouver, because criminal organizations trade one
narcotic for the other.

"There's no question that a signal is being sent by judges here that they
don't take this as a serious business."

Drennan said there are more than 100 growing operations in Vancouver at any
one time.

She said they are usually set up in rented houses, with landlords taking a
huge risk because of the fire hazard, the pervasive and lasting smell and
the extensive electrical rewiring that is required. Marijuana growers
thrive on B.C.'s lenient court penalties

Chad Skelton and Brian Morton Vancouver Sun

Lenient sentences given to marijuana growers by B.C.'s courts are
encouraging criminals to set up shop here and ship their product south of
the border, an official with the U.S. border patrol said Monday.

"It's grown up [in B.C.] because it's much more lenient up there," said
Gene Davis, deputy chief of the U.S. border patrol in Blaine, Wash.

"It makes a much better growing environment up there than down here.
... They've gone north to grow it because it's pretty low risk."

Davis said marijuana smuggling has become a "huge problem" at the U.S.
border. Based on the amount of pot seized -- which the patrol estimates is
no more than 10 per cent of all that is coming across -- Davis estimates
the amount of marijuana being smuggled into the United States from B.C. has
increased tenfold over the past two years.

In fiscal year 1997, Davis said, the patrol seized only 51 kilograms (112
pounds) of marijuana. The following year, it seized more than 272. This
year it has seized 544 kilograms.

On Monday, 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.

The Sun reviewed the cases of 112 people charged with growing marijuana, of
whom 72 were convicted.

Only one in five of those convicted were sentenced to time in jail. Of the
15 who received jail time, 12 were sentenced to 90 days or less. One in
four served no jail time and paid no fine. Most (58.3 per cent) received a
fine. The average fine: $2,655.97.

Davis said he has no doubt that, as criminals learn of B.C.'s lenient
sentences, they are shifting their operations north.

"If you get caught in Washington with only 10 or 12 plants -- you're going
to go to jail," he said. "It's not looked on with much seriousness in Canada."

Earlier this summer, the U.S. government announced it would spend an
estimated $4.5 million US on a sophisticated fibre-optic camera
surveillance system to monitor a 40-kilometre stretch of the
Canada-U.S. border. The system was established in part because of the
amount of B.C.-grown marijuana being smuggled into America.

Meanwhile, a Vancouver police department spokeswoman said Monday that
police were not surprised by the results of the Sun's investigation into
marijuana sentencing.

Constable Anne Drennan said penalties are on the books to deter growing
operations. The maximum penalty for production of marijuana -- Section 7.1
of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act -- is seven years in prison.

"The penalties are there, but they just aren't being handed out. Our
experience has been that, on average, you can expect a $3,000 fine for a
marijuana-growing conviction. At the very outside, three months in jail. We
consider that nothing more than a slap on the wrist."

Drennan said that, unlike simple marijuana possession, growing operations
are very serious. They are a multi-million-dollar business controlled by
organized crime and directly related to the huge amounts of cocaine showing
up on the streets of Vancouver, because criminal organizations trade one
narcotic for the other.

"There's no question that a signal is being sent by judges here that they
don't take this as a serious business."

Drennan said there are more than 100 growing operations in Vancouver at any
one time.

She said they are usually set up in rented houses, with landlords taking a
huge risk because of the fire hazard, the pervasive and lasting smell and
the extensive electrical rewiring that is required.