OUT OF CONTROL

When is our befuddled federal government going to admit marijuana grow ops
are an out-of-control crisis in this country?

Yesterday marked the discovery of another monster grow op in Ontario -- 14
greenhouses containing thousands of plants. That only happened because the
electrical system shorted out, causing spot fires.

In Alberta, police uncover new marijuana operations almost daily.

Even putting aside the fact grow ops are increasingly run by organized
crime and gangs ready to use violence to protect their profits, they are an
enormous hazard simply from a public safety perspective.

They're firetraps, often containing jury-rigged wiring drawing massive
amounts of electricity.

They're environmental hazards. Any residential home used as a grow op -- as
tens of thousands across the country are -- is rendered dangerous because
of mould created by humid growing conditions.

Even the few grow-op operators who are caught rarely go to jail and police,
lacking either the fiscal resources or legal tools to do the job, are
slowly but steadily losing the fight.

Municipalities lack any legal tools to recover costs from illegal pot
growers for the massive property damage they cause.

The Liberal plan to double the maximum sentence for big operators to 14
years from the current seven is a smokescreen.

Judges rarely impose any jail terms on grow-op operators. Doubling a
"maximum" that is almost never used will change nothing since judges base
their sentences on precedents.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler is even opposed to a mandatory minimum
sentence of two years for big-time grow-op operators.

The Liberals insist, contrary to repeated warnings from the nation's own
police forces, that little marijuana grown in Canada is being smuggled into
the U.S. It's the huge U.S. market for pot that would fuel Canada's huge
grow-op industry even if the feds were to legalize pot here.

How are police going to cope with the huge increase of pot-impaired drivers
once marijuana is decriminalized, given that there's no reliable roadside
test for marijuana impairment?

Since the federal justice department's own website describes smoking pot as
a health hazard, where is the federal campaign to discourage pot use,
particularly among the young?

The way they've handled this growing problem, we'd suggest it isn't only
marijuana users whose judgment has been seriously impaired.