IN THE LINE OF DUTY: FOUR MOUNTIES SLAIN: THE FALLOUT

OTTAWA, TORONTO -- The federal government promised last night to consider
tougher laws against marijuana grow operations, and possibly more money for
police, only hours after the deaths of four RCMP officers.

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said she had met briefly with Justice
Minister Irwin Cotler and the two agreed to consider changes to a bill
already before the House of Commons. She did not provide specifics.

They "want to take a look at that legislation, and we want to determine
whether we have the right tools in place," she said. "There is a question
of resources, clearly, and that is something as a government that we need
to take up with the national force. Obviously local police forces and
others are on the front lines of this every day as well."

Police have been warning for the past few years that the proliferation of
marijuana grow-ops is leading to increased violence. Grow-ops are no longer
the domain of casual dealers, they say, but of hardened gangsters and
organized crime.

According to a recent RCMP report, marijuana seizures are six times what
they were a decade ago.

In Ontario, police say that as many as 10,000 children have lived in homes
that have been converted into marijuana factories in the past five years.

Ms. McLellan said yesterday the proposed law to decriminalize marijuana,
currently before the House of Commons justice committee, already contains
measures to stiffen penalties for grow-operators, but that there are
questions about whether the police have the tools they need to combat the
problem.

"There is a resource issue, but I think there is also an issue around do we
have the right laws in place, have we given the RCMP and other forces the
right tools they need to deal with what is an amazing growth, quite
truthfully, in these operations."

That assessment of grow-ops as a major crime danger was echoed less than an
hour later by RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who called them a
serious threat.

"This is really a plague on our society," he said.

He said, however, that while police forces face limited resources, there
are laws in place to allow them to crack down on marijuana growers.

"We have laws. We have the means to do it."

Ms. McLellan balked at immediately promising more cash for police
investigations of grow operations, saying the government handed out
additional funding when Ottawa outlined a national drug strategy two years ago.

But now the spectre of four dead Mounties, who were gunned down while
investigating an increasingly routine type of crime scene, is haunting
police precincts across the country.

"It's going to send a shiver down everyone's spine," Vancouver Police
Inspector Val Harrison said yesterday.

"We've been trying to say these things are dangerous. We routinely find
weapons."

While police are rarely injured in drug busts, many felt it was only a
matter of time. Grow operations have flourished in recent years as courts
handed out only fines and light sentences to offenders, most of whom police
regard as members of dangerous criminal groups.

Canada has introduced legislation that would decriminalize marijuana
possession, but the proposed law would also increase the maximum penalties
for people caught growing large amounts.

Still, sentences for growers are almost always on the lighter end of the scale.