IS YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD GOING TO POT?

Big Houses, Small Houses -- Like The Former Grow Houses In The Above Photos
- -- Can All Be Hiding Thousands Of Dollars Worth Of Illegal Drugs

They're popping up over North Ontario, in quaint towns and farmers' fields.

In the North, we now hear about sophisticated marijuana grow operations
more than we do of nuisance black bears.

According to Statistics Canada, marijuana grow operations have more than
doubled over the past decade, from 3,400 busts in 1994 to more than 8,000
last year.

British Columbia takes a good chunk out of the illegal trade, but more and
more pot growers are taking up business in rural and Northern Ontario
communities.

Last week, Greater Sudbury's drug cop, Sgt. Peter Orsino, had to make an
unexpected trip up north to help take down a grow operation. Police seized
more than 18,000 marijuana plants in Matheson.

"Think three football fields, side by side, of marijuana plants
approximately four feet high," said Orsino, sitting back in his office in
Sudbury.

"And then another field, approximately half of a football field just on
another side of an embankment of plants about three to four feet high."

The farm property itself was about 150 acres, with the marijuana plants
hidden in between hay fields.

The operation was located just south of where one of Canada's biggest pot
busts was made. In late, July police seized more than 21,000 plants behind
a home in Iroquois Falls.

"They're coming north simply because of the area we have," said Orsino. "In
southern Ontario, they're forced to have indoor marijuana grow ops because
where are you going to find property like this?"

Cheaper property, rent and easier access to hydro are added bonuses for
grow operators.

So far in 2005, the Joint Forces Drug Unit -- consisting of Greater Sudbury
Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police --
closed nine major pot operations and another three smaller ventures in the
Greater Sudbury area and seized about $3. 5 million in plants.

"I'm not naive; I know we only find a small percentage," said Orsino, who
is also the supervisor of the Joint Forces Drug Unit.

"We know they're out there. I'd love to say we were hitting 10 per cent of
grow ops, but I don't see that. I see a much smaller percentage."

Outlying communities like Worthington seem to be a favourite for growers,
but some former operations look like the house next door.

Marijuana grow ops are no longer the mom and pop-type ventures.

"Your talking about large amounts of money, the equipment is high-tech,"
said Sgt. Ivan Verdurem, with the RCMP drug unit in Sudbury.

"You might have somebody who is a lower level within the crime group
looking after the operation, but it definitely comes back to organized crime."

Organized crime accounts for the largest percentage of pot operations
across Canada.

But that was not the case 30 years ago.

In 1972, the LeDain Commission into the Non-Medical use of Drugs concluded
that the Canadian marijuana market was "loosely organized, unstable and,
until very recently, relatively free of professional criminal involvement."

With more busts up North, it may seem organized crime is moving into our
backyard, but that's not really the case says Orsino. Southern Ontario
business is booming and expanding.

"Is Sudbury and area going to be more popular? Definitely," said Orsino.
"Are we going to become a little B.C.? I don't know. We are going to be
inundated with these marijuana grows, indoor and outdoor."

By closing down marijuana grow ops, police are really just putting a small
dent into organized crime. The people charged in connection to the
operations -- those caught on site tending the crops -- are usually those
working at the bottom of the organized crime ring.

Orsino said in many cases, police are able to trace the money back to the
head honcho and seize proceeds from the operation.

"But they're getting smarter and they're learning how to get around these
investigative techniques. But right now, we've been successful at working
it back to the person in charge," he said.

Relying on tips from neighbours, anonymous callers, informants or
undercover officers, making a bust can take a week or six months.

"Once we receive a tip, first we have to identify the persons who are
suspected to be at the location, get (as much) information as we can about
how long they've been running," said Orsino.

"Just to get a search warrant is a pretty lengthy process and we need as
much detail as possible."

In recent months, proposed laws to decriminalize marijuana has taken a back
seat to issues like the sponsorship scandal and same sex marriage.

"I think there's political pressures we're not getting informed about,"
said Orsino.

"Other countries around us, our neighbours to the south, of course, don't
want us to legalize marijuana."

Under the proposed legislation, softening penalties for marijuana
possession would lead to harsher penalties for grow operators, a welcome
change for many law enforcers.

"If they took a more serious approach and made sentences a little stiffer
in regards to these grow ops, it would definitely be easier to make our way
to the top," he said.

Orsino says the local situation will only worsen until the laws are changed
"to meet what they're yielding in these grows."

Being sentenced to six months house arrest for cultivating a 100-plant crop
isn't a fair equation, said Orsino.

Marijuana today isn't the same as it was 20 years ago. THC -- the active
ingredient in marijuana -- levels have tripled, making it a more addictive
drug, said Orsino.

"When I was going through high school, there was pot around, however, I
don't think I know anybody in high school who had to go to rehab," he said.
"If you go to high schools now and you actually check how many kids had to
go to drug rehab."

In addition to rehab, kids on dope are more likely to drop out of school.

"You can't say 'Well, it's just marijuana.' There are a lot of kids in
rehab because of 'just marijuana.' And right now the lax views is what's
putting our kids in harms' way."

But it's just not children in the classroom at risk.

In order to run an effective operation, growers steal hydro; regular power
outlets couldn't run 1,000-watt bulbs.

"If kids are playing outside and there are rewired electrical systems, they
could get electrocuted from it," said Verdurem.

Dangers to public safety include the potential of explosions, electrical
fires and power outages due to theft.

"There are a lot of poisonous gases being vented out in furnaces and the
residences," said Verdurem.

Running an indoor marijuana operation leads to the build up of mould;
carpets and walls become saturated with pesticides and fertilizers, which,
if not properly cleaned, can leave the next dwellers with life-threatening
health problems, said Orsino.

But once police make a bust, certain precautions are taken. Building
control issues a non-occupancy notice until all mould has been removed and
"all evidence of a grow op is gone."

Everything is documented, said Orsino, and if someone were to purchase the
home, all the orders would have to be filled before the sale is made.

But if an indoor grow operation went undetected and the growers moved out,
the new occupants could be exposed to the hazardous remnants.