GET CRACKING, JUDGES TOLD

COURTS GO TOO EASY ON GROW-OPS: MINISTER

CANADA'S NEW pot reform laws will toughen penalties to combat
dangerous marijuana grow-ops -- but judges also need a lesson about
the gravity of the crime, said Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan.
Responding to a Toronto Sun article about chronically lenient
sentences for large-scale growing operators, the deputy prime minister
said more judicial education is required.

"We need to help judges understand how absolutely serious this is --
the social costs, the economic costs, and quite truthfully, the danger
to the lives and safety of first responders when they go into these
houses," she told Sun Media. "This is not a crime that should be taken
lightly. This is not a victimless crime."

Stats Shocking

Surprised by statistics from B.C. showing the odds of going to jail
are less than 1-in-100, McLellan noted the retabled marijuana
decriminalization bill doubles the maximum prison term for grow-ops.
It also requires judges to issue written reasons for not giving a jail
sentence when there are "aggravating" factors, like booby traps,
repeat offences or established links to organized crime.

"One of the reasons we're amending the Criminal Code is because we
believe this is a serious crime, and we believe courts must treat it
as a serious crime," McLellan said.

But Conservative justice critic Vic Toews slammed the reform bill as
"inadequate" and "more lip service than action." He charged it's a
Liberal ploy to give the false appearance of tackling the problem.

"They know full well the courts don't even impose the present maximum
sentences," he said. "If they're really serious about addressing the
issue .. they need to impose mandatory minimum prison terms."

Mandatory Terms

Failing to have tough mandatory sentences on the books only encourages
a revolving door of grow operators, who set up shop again after just a
few months behind bars, he said.