LAW'S GONE TO POT

But Don't Bet The House On Marijuana Becoming Legal

To your typical large-scale pot producer, a small fine, house arrest
or a few weeks in jail is a small price to pay for raking in huge
profits selling the most popular illicit drug on the planet.

So North Vancouver resident Judy Ann Craig, who was making a tidy
income growing pot in her home, must have been shocked when a judge
fined her $115,000 on top of a soft-touch 12-month conditional sentence.

Poor rattled Craig appealed, asking for a fine of $15,000 payable over
three years. She got more than she bargained for. The B.C. Court of
Appeal dropped the entire fine but ordered the forfeiture of her home
instead.

Yesterday, the 58-year-old appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court
of Canada, which reserved its decision. Losing her home for grossing
more than $100,000 a year from an illegal endeavour just isn't fair,
her lawyer argued.

Oh, boohoo, pass the tissue. As the B.C. Court of Appeal pointed out,
Craig wasn't just growing a little weed for personal use. The cops
seized 186 plants. Her entire basement was turned into a grow-op. The
former real estate agent simply got greedy.

Perhaps the history of piddling sentences for pot cultivation over the
years prompted Craig to shrug off her illegal activities. After all,
as researchers from B.C.'s University College of the Fraser Valley
have reported, the penalties for pot grow-ops in B.C. are so trivial
that they make a mockery of our drug laws.

The researchers studied 25,000 pot grow-op cases and found that very
few people went to prison. Of those who were jailed, the average
sentence was less than five months. And, oddly, the more convictions
pot producers racked up, the less time they spent in jail.

What's a few weeks in the slammer if you can re-establish an immensely
profitable grow-op as soon as you get out?

Where's the deterrent? Well, that's where the forfeiture provisions of
the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act come into play. Amendments to
the law several years ago made it easier to seize property connected
to crime.

Hence, the wailing to the Supreme Court from Craig and a couple of
other convicted marijuana producers whose homes have been ordered
forfeited to the state by appeal courts.

In one of the cases, a B.C. couple bought a house just for grow-op
purposes. Their 18-year-old daughter lived in the home. Earnings were
estimated to be at least $10,000 a month.

They were convicted in 2005 and their lawyer, naturally, felt a
conditional sentence was adequate punishment -- like that's a
disincentive. The judge gave them 18 months of house arrest but also
ordered the seizure of the home.

A conditional sentence alone isn't a deterrent, the judge explained,
noting that past sentences for grow-ops have "collectively failed" to
discourage similar conduct. No kidding.

Defence lawyers argue that seizing the homes of pot cultivators is
unconscionable. But they don't like jail sentences either. They're all
for house arrest, where you get to lounge around at home and watch TV
for a year.

EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS

Meanwhile, grow-ops have reached epidemic proportions and drug-related
home invasions are now routine in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

It's unfortunate that we haven't legalized pot for adult use. The
money spent on these few cases alone -- from arrest all the way to the
Supreme Court - must be staggering.

But until weed is legalized, surely we ought to make an effort to
enforce the law in a meaningful way. Otherwise, why have a law at all?