WHISTLING PAST THE GROW-OPS

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

Yesterday marked the discovery of yet another huge grow op, this time in
Wainfleet, near Welland -- 14 greenhouses containing thousands of marijuana
plants.

That only happened because the electrical system shorted out, causing spot
fires throughout the facility.

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

They're firetraps, often containing jury-rigged wiring.

They're environmental hazards. Any residential home used as a grow-op -- as
tens of thousands across the country are -- is rendered unlivable and
dangerous to human health because of the mould created by the 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 grow op operators
for the massive property damage they cause.

And yet the federal Liberals are proceeding merrily along with plans to
decriminalize marijuana -- which will directly result in an even bigger
market for the grow-op operators.

The Liberals' plan to double the maximum sentence for big grow-op 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.

Further, the Liberals are historically soft on all crime. Any suggestion
they are going to spearhead a campaign to convince judges to crack down on
grow-op operators is absurd. Indeed, why should judges toughen the
sentences for growers of the drug, when the feds are decriminalizing the
penalties for its users?

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. In fact, it's the giant American 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 big increase in pot-impaired drivers
once marijuana is decriminalized, given that there's no reliable road side
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?

Why didn't the feds do any studies about the legal, environmental, societal
and health implications of decriminalizing marijuana, before they decided
to do it?

This is simply not how responsible governments do things.

Then again, these are Liberals, so why be surprised?