WOULD DOUBLING POLICE FUNDS DOUBLE POT HAUL?

So the Windsor police raided six more cannabis growing operations with an
estimated street value of $5.5 million (Cops Make Record Pot Haul, June 24).

Predictably, Windsor Police Chief Glenn Stannard took the opportunity to
ask for additional funding to combat drugs, particularly dangerous grow
operations in residential areas.

According to the RCMP report, Drug Situation in Canada 2001, at least 100
tonnes of hashish, 15 tonnes of cocaine and six tonnes of liquid hashish
are smuggled into Canada each year.

Production of marijuana is estimated at 800 tonnes. They seized just under
29 tons of cannabis in 2001, or about 3.6 per cent of what they guess
Canadians grow.

How much additional funding would Chief Stannard require to have a
measurable impact on the Windsor cannabis industry?

If the city doubled his budget, would his department be able to interdict
more than seven per cent, or what growers would have paid in GST in a
legally regulated market?

Matthew M. Elrod, Victoria, B.C.