Regulate tools for growing marijuana RCMP

By DAVID PUGLIESE Southam News

OTTAWA The RCMP wants government to regulate the sale of hydroponic
growing equipment to help snuff out illegal marijuana cultivation, a
booming source of revenue for the Hells Angels biker gang and other
criminals.

The Mounties say indoor pot growing reached unprecedented levels last
year, generating high profits that will attract further interest from
organized crime.

And a newly declassified RCMP study warns that as long as there are no
regulations governing the purchase of basins, lamps and water pumps
used to cultivate marijuana, growing facilities will sprout up across
the country.

The study, The Hydroponic Cultivation of Marijuana in Canada:
Evolution and Trends, was prepared by the RCMP's criminal intelligence
directorate in May 1995, but not publicly released. A copy of the
classified report was recently obtained under the Access to
Information Act.

Marijuana growers are turning away from conventional outdoor
cultivation and opting for greenhouses and hydroponic facilities, in
part because growing pot in controlled surroundings increases its
psychoactive ingredient, making it more attractive to users.

The RCMP study recommends businesses that sell hydroponic equipment be
required to record the names and addresses of customers. Currently,
there are no laws governing such sales and it is presumed the items
are to be used for commercial gardening.

The study, however, suggests some equipment dealers have criminal
connections.

"There is no attempt here to tar all suppliers of hydroponic equipment
with the same brush, but there is certainly reason to afford them
special attention, especially in light of some information provided by
a number of divisions."

Chief Supt. Wayne Wawryk, the RCMP's director of criminal
intelligence, said in an interview that controlling the sale of
hydroponic equipment would be useful.

But such transactions fall under provincial jurisdiction, which could
make it tricky for the federal government to do much.

"It might be very difficult to deal with that issue," said Wawryk.

William Sutherland, who runs a hydroponic retail outlet in Vanier,
Ont., says he wants nothing to do with marijuana, but adds he can't
control what people do with the equipment he sells.

Sutherland believes pot growers will simply steal the necessary items
if governments impose controls, such as registration of buyers' names.

There are regulations governing equipment sales in the United States,
which has taken a harder line on drugs and often imposes tougher
penalties than Canada against pot growers and traffickers.

Police believe the differences in approach account for the fact
Canadian growers, including many in British Columbia, now export large
quantities of pot south of the border.

The RCMP says the B.C. Hells Angels are heavily involved in hydroponic
cultivation and export to other provinces, as well as western U.S.
states.

Police believe thousands of hydroponic facilities operate yearround
in British Columbia.