RURAL RESIDENTS FUME OVER POT PLANTATIONS

People are looking over their shoulders after large seizures of
marijuana plants from their neighbourhoods.

Brian Myshrall of Hawkins Corner, near Millville, one of the areas
impacted by RCMP raids last week, said marijuana grow operations are
troublesome to many in the community.

"I have a couple of small kids and they play in the woods and stuff,"
he said. "It is not good."

On Aug. 13, District 7 RCMP based in Woodstock, along with the
force's marijuana enforcement team, seized 492 marijuana plants
during a series of raids. Locations involved were in Dumfries,
Springfield, Hawkins Corner, Hartley Settlement, Lower Knoxford, East
Centerville and Fielding.

Combined with seizures in the area the previous week, almost 700
plants were taken by the RCMP at 11 different locations.

The RCMP said earlier this week that least a quarter of the marijuana
grown in New Brunswick finds its way into the hands of organized
crime, which resells the drugs on the street through drug-marketing networks.

"I wouldn't say I am panicking," Myshrall said. "They (RCMP) are
keeping it fairly under control."

Myshrall said people should keep their eyes open when they are
four-wheeling and let police know if they find anything.

Other than that, he said, there isn't much that can be done because
there are only so many RCMP officers.

"We are out in the country and they cannot monitor it all. The
helicopter seems to work very well and they seem to get a few every year."

Stella Ingraham of Springfield said residents are aware that
marijuana grow operations have been discovered in their community and
aren't happy about it.

"We know these things go on and we would like to see it stopped,"
Ingraham said. "I really do not know who would be doing it."

Ingraham said she's glad the RCMP is cracking down on such illegal
ventures and was pleased to hear the sound of the force's helicopter
from above her community recently.

"You're aware of it when you hear of it," she said of the grow
operations. "But I don't think too much about it because I don't smoke it."

Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University,
said there is no reason for New Brunswickers to hit the panic button
regarding organized crime and marijuana -- at least not yet.

He said such operations have the potential to attract criminal elements.

"The possibility of violence and/or more competition amongst
organized-crime groups in this province is not yet at a serious
point," he said. "It could become more serious if the province is
seen as an important hub for the distribution of narcotics."

Communities, however, would have less reason to be concerned about
organized crime if the federal government legalized marijuana and
regulated its distribution, Boudreau said.

"I think it's an issue that we should have a much more serious
discussion about in this country," Boudreau said. "I am not
advocating that the federal government start doling out crack cocaine
to people because of the serious medical consequences it can have
upon people. But the legalization of things such as marijuana would
help deal a fairly severe blow against the organized drug trade."

It wouldn't eliminate it, Boudreau said, but it would help.