GROW-OPS SPROUTING LIKE WEEDS

Kelowna's top cop has fired a volley at the province's judges,
complaining pot growers are getting off with light sentences and
making the community suffer.

An RCMP study found that of 130 people charged with growing marijuana
in the Central Okanagan over two years, 10 received real jail time.
B.C. produces more grow-ops than any other province, says RCMP Supt.
Bill McKinnon, and yet local judges are reined in by their superiors,
the B.C. Court of Appeal.

"Local judges have a very difficult job. They're held to account by
the appeals court," McKinnon told a news conference Monday.

"There have to be bigger consequences. This is a multi-million-dollar
enterprise. It concerns me that marijuana is traded for cocaine and
brought back (from the U.S.)."

The study focused on court files involving marijuana production at
the Kelowna Law Courts in 2008 and '09. In 81 files involving 130
participants, 44 people were guilty and sentenced; two were guilty
and awaiting sentence.

Forty-eight people had their charges stayed, 12 were acquitted, six
dismissed and 17 are still before the courts.

The 10 who received jail time were convicted of production and at
least one other crime. Eight of them had previous convictions. All 10
did jail time of 90 days to 15 months.

Twenty-nine offenders got house arrest for up to two years and six
got probation. One house was seized as proceeds of crime. Fines
ranged from $2,000 to $2,500. McKinnon said that's not enough.

"The way to stop bad behaviour is having a consequence . . . so it
makes you think twice about what you're doing," he said. "We see it
as the cost of doing business."

Based on the information police have, they could bust one grow-op a
day in the Central Okanagan for three or four months, McKinnon said.
Many are in nice residential areas.

Up to 10 organized-crime groups are conducting the local drug trade.
In most cases, police can only arrest the gardener at the bottom of
the operation. By seizing the kingpins' homes and getting into their
bank accounts, the courts could create more of a deterrent, McKinnon said.

Neighbours should watch for grow-ops on their streets for their own
good, he said. A grow can give off poisonous fumes, discharge
chemicals, start fires and lead to violence. Operators often keep
weapons to ward off home invasions. Sometimes, invaders target the wrong home.

Criminals often rob people and break the law to support their drug
habits. Houses can be permanently damaged by a grow-op's high
humidity and children can suffer health problems from the mould.