POT LAWS AN ENIGMA

It's hard to escape the pungent irony of a federal government that is
planning to decriminalize pot possession in Canada while law
enforcement and municipal officials here at home are gearing up for an
all-out assault on marijuana grow houses.

The federal Liberals surely have good intentions in their bid to
reduce criminal penalties for simple possession, but the scourge of
grow operations in Toronto clearly demonstrate that there is much more
to recreational marijuana use than taking the occasional toke.

To that end, it is encouraging to see municipal officials in Toronto
moving now to pull all the levers they have at their disposal to
combat this community-based crime. Just this week, councillors on the
city's planning committee decided to explore, in conjunction with
senior levels of government, how it might give more authority to
property standards and health inspectors to help identify and shut
down these operations more quickly. Their actions come at a time when
Toronto police officers have been faced with an issue that, quite
literally, continues to grow in neighbourhoods around the city.

Just last week, for example, police raided one grow operation that
contained 4,200 plants with a street value of $4.2 million. That
operation, police say, is just one of nearly 300 similar ones in homes
and industrial units throughout the city that have been shut down this
year. And there are still dozens, perhaps hundreds, more operating in
the city. From a health perspective, it's clear that these grow
operations, particularly those in residential neighbourhoods, pose a
danger to nearby residents.

There are illegal and potentially deadly hydro bypasses that are
required to maintain secrecy. There are organized gangs with steep
investments in their products that are willing to use violence to
protect those investments. There are other criminals willing to use
violence to steal that investment from homes in otherwise quiet
neighbourhoods. There are fire hazards from the lamps and electrical
wiring used in the growing process, and the buildings sometimes suffer
structural damage. All of these elements threaten the health and
safety of the larger community.

Clearly, if Toronto is to succeed in dismantling these operations, the
issue cannot be seen solely as a law enforcement responsibility.
Citizens have a stake in helping to identify these operations in their
neighbourhoods. Politicians have a responsibility to use all of the
tools they have to make these operations more difficult to set up.
Finally, higher levels of government must find ways to provide more
tools, through legislative changes and additional funding, to assist
in what is surely to be a long and arduous initiative. You may agree
that recreational pot use shouldn't lead to a criminal record. But
bear in mind that those same people who light up in the privacy of
their own homes are culpable in keeping these illegal grow operations
in business. They aren't mutually exclusive issues. We must confront
both.