GROW-OPS A GROWING PROBLEM

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows together are one of the fastest growing areas
in B.C. for growing marijuana, according to a recent report by the
University College of the Fraser Valley.

The report shows that the number of marijuana cases in Maple Ridge and Pitt
Meadows since 1997 has risen 375%, including 152 cases in 2003
- -representing 3.4% of all those in B.C. that year.

Surrey had 441 cases in 2003. Vancouver had 225. Coquitlam, where marijuana
cases have risen 624%, had 297. Prince George had the largest increase in
marijuana cases: 722%.

Local police track 200 to 400 grow-ops a year.

"However, do to time constraints, as well as man-power constraints, police
may only be able to focus on a small number of these," RCMP Const. Kelly
Katalinic said.

"Also police powers are greatly limited due to the large amount of evidence
police must produce so that an search warrant may be obtained. A single tip
of an odour or suspicious behaviour would not nearly be sufficient grounds
for a search warrant. Otherwise information gathering in order to secure a
search warrant can be a lengthy process. "

It takes 120 to 180 man hours to investigate one grow-op.

RCMP dismantled 20 grow-ops in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows in 2003. They
dismantled 35 last year.

RCMP Cpl. Dave Walsh said the difference in the two years wasn't
necessarily a rise in grow-ops, but that officers were required to work
more on major crime cases in 2003 and weren't able to get to some drug files.

Local police have a drug team. It currently has three members. Police
assembled a "Green Team" early last year, calling in officers on their off
days to dismantle grow-ops.

It's been of great assistance, Walsh said.

He added, without it police would not have been able to execute most of the
grow-op warrants last year.

Many of the warrants led to the arrests of Vietnamese adults.

Police arrested 10 adults -five of them Vietnamese, including a man and a
woman in their 80s - and seized 7,050 marijuana plants from seven different
residence during a 10-day span this past November.

Police raided at least 19 grow-ops last April and May, arresting 16 people.
Of those, 12 were Vietnamese.

Police arrested a 32-year-old Vietnamese man and seized 403 marijuana
plants from two floors of a house on 113 Street in Maple Ridge on Feb. 8.
The man was released from custody, pending drug trafficking and production
charges.

Walsh noticed an increase in Vietnamese grow-ops last year, often in newer
homes with high crawl spaces with ducting and electrical wiring.

Still, a large percentage of marijuana growers are Caucasian men.

According to the study, 69% of all offenders were Caucasian, the mean age
being 35.

The rate of grow operations in B.C. is 79 per 100,000 people, nearly three
times the national average of 27.

The rate of marijuana cases in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows is 1.79 per
1,000 -64% above the provincial rate.

The amount of marijuana produced in B.C. each year has increased from
19,729 kilograms in 1997 to 79,817 kg in 2003.

"Over the period studied, the evidence indicates that marijuana grow
operations have become larger and increasingly sophisticated, involving
more technological elements," the study says.

More and more they are found in upscale subdivisions, like Rock Ridge, Golf
Lane Estates and Maple Crest.

The average number of plants in an indoor grow operations in 1997 was 149.
In 2003 it was 236.

The amount of marijuana harvested has increased from 2.4 kg to 7.2 kg

The average number of high-intensity lights seized from grow-ops by police
has increased from nine to 16. Hydro theft has also increased.

According to the study, about 15% of grow-ops contain at least one hazard:
weapons, booby traps, explosives, chemicals or fire.

"The likelihood of a marijuana-grow operation resulting in a fire was 24
times higher than it was for ordinary house fires," the study says. Maple
Ridge fire chief Dane Spence said grow-ops, with all their wiring and
ventilation, are a safety hazard to firefighters.

Despite such hazards, the majority of grow operators go unpunished.

Of the 3,364 marijuana grow offenders convicted in B.C. during the study
period, 16% were sentenced to prison. The average sentence length: 4.9 months.

"... the criminal justice system has become increasingly unable to
respond," the study says.

Walsh has called it the "catch and release" program.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman has appealed to the federal government
for stiffer sentences for grow operators.

A copy of the university study is to be sent to B.C. judges.