COLEMAN SAYS MARIJUANA GROW OPS THE CASH FLOW FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

Not many of the more than 60 members of the community who turned out
to a public forum Tuesday felt comforted after listening to
politicians and police talk about what is being done to stop the
proliferation of grow ops in the Lower Mainland.

Many of the people who attended Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Richard
Stewart's forum at Coquitlam City Hall were upset that Solicitor
General Rich Coleman left after the first hour of the meeting, once he
had addressed the audience and finished meeting with the media.

Deputy Premier and Port Moody-Westwood MLA Christy Clark also left
before the end of the meeting, saying she had to care for her sick
husband.

Coleman told the audience that within the next year, police will add
another weapon to their arsenal in the fight against the growing drug
problem. He said PRIME (Police Records Information Management) will
give police agencies across the province "laptop technology" so
officers will have immediate real-time information on suspects and
crimes. He said B.C. will be the only jurisdiction in the world with
this type of technology.

"It's already been piloted. We know it works and that's why we're
using it," Coleman said.

He also promised there would be an additional 100 police officers on
the road in B.C. in the next year.

And he said organized crime groups don't care about
communities.

"Marijuana grow ops are the cash in organized crime and a kilo of B.C.
marijuana is traded in the States for a kilo of coke," he said.
"Marijuana grow ops are the cash flow of organized crime in British
Columbia. It's not acceptable to me that we have grow ops in our
communities."

He said the common belief is that marijuana is a soft drug, but warns
it is usually laced with a stronger drug, such as PCP or coke as a way
of getting people hooked on the stronger drugs.

He said the provincial government has already begun to make it easier
for authorities to catch grow operators.

On Jan. 1, the Liberals amended the Residential Tenancy Act, giving
landlords the right to inspect their rental properties once a month
and giving them the added power to evict tenants on the basis of
illegal activity.

Coleman said his goal is to make B.C. an undesirable jurisdiction for
the drug trade. He said he would like to see more teeth in the
judicial system, much like in Washington state, where a person caught
with more than 100 pot plants can be sent to jail for five years.

"In B.C., you can be charged up to seven times in our system of
justice before you can be tried and sent to jail," Coleman said. "It's
not acceptable that we sit back and treat this thing softly."

Coleman said because the judiciary falls under federal jurisdiction,
the province will have to do what it can to put the bite on drug crime
in other ways. He said the province plans to go after the proceeds of
crime, and his government is in the process of preparing legislation
for the civil forfeiture of the proceeds of crime, similar to what
occurs in cases of tax crime.

"We'll say the house is ours, the car is ours and you have to prove to
us that you paid for it with your own money," Coleman said. "We
shouldn't let people profit on illegal crime."

Coquitlam Mayor Jon Kingsbury said the battle against grow ops is also
being waged at the municipal level. He said Coquitlam is establishing
a new noxious and offensive business bylaw, where homes used for grow
ops are flagged and the owners fined.

And, Kingsbury said, prospective buyers can ask for information on a
home through the Freedom of Information Act if they suspect it was
used for illegal activity. "Once a home is determined to have had a
grow op in it, we will put a sign on the front of the house saying
it's not fit for human habitation," Kingsbury said.

Coquitlam RCMP Superintendent Ric Hall said there are two main
complaints his detachment receives on a weekly basis - traffic and
grow ops. He said, unfortunately, they can't begin to check out every
house suspected of having a grow op.

"We have a long, long list of houses that are suspected grow ops," he
said. "But we have to do it legally and we have to do it properly so
we can get it through the court system."

He said the police are trying to keep up with the proliferation of
grow ops and methamphetamine labs, but can't do it alone.

"This is all about working together," Hall said. "It's a policing
problem. It's a community problem and it's a court problem."

Hall also showed some frustration with the judiciary.

"We're the first step in the judicial system. We go out and arrest
people and they go through the court system and the court does what
they do and we can't stand up and criticize the courts," Hall said.

RCMP Sgt. Steve LeClaire said there are four constables and a corporal
assigned to the Coquitlam RCMP's drug unit, compared to six constables
and a corporal on the robbery and property crime unit.

However, LeClaire said the two units work hand in hand as the street
enforcement unit.

"Street crime is fueled by drugs," LeClaire said. "And marijuana is a
big problem in our communities ... I've seen first-hand the problems
marijuana causes - homicide, sexual assault and home invasions.
Marijuana is the root of our problems."

He said to further combat the problem, five new members will be added
to fight street crimes. He expects the unit to be up and running by
fall.

LeClaire said police receive tips on grow ops almost daily, and the
RCMP are forced to prioritize.

"I think that's outrageous that our community is not getting the
quality of service we expect if a tip comes in on a grow op,"
Coquitlam resident Blair Yochim said during the question period. "It
should not be put on a lower priority."

Former police officer Tom Brown heads up a special BC Hydro power
theft team. He said in almost every case of stolen hydro, a grow op is
the culprit. "Let me tell you they are on every street in this
community," Brown said.

He said in the first two months of this year, BC Hydro discovered 106
diversions (power thefts), and the unit conducted over 3,000
investigations into thefts last year. He said the unit works closely
with police to catch people stealing power for their grow ops.

Gord Maroney, vice-president of the B.C. Real Estate Association, said
the 13,000 realtors in the province are being trained to recognize the
signs of grow ops in homes. "If any of our members are aware of a grow
op, they are required to report it and they do," Maroney said.

Doug Stead, a Tri-Cities businessman, pointed the finger at the
judicial system and said the police are underfunded and have had their
hands tied by government legislation, which took the power to charge
people with crimes away from police and gave it to Crown
prosecutors.

Gary Crews agreed that the judicial system needs harsher penalties for
drug offenders.

"The government has to do something," Crews said. "The crooks are king
and they're taking over our country. Our governments must do something
to stop it."

Roderick Louis called the meeting "an exercise in sanctimonious
hypocrisy," and called for the decriminalization of marijuana.

"Stopping grow ops is akin to stomping out a forest fire with tennis
shoes," Louis said. "It's time there was constructive talk about the
decriminalization of cannabis and putting it on the same level as
alcohol in society."

Stewart was noticeably upset with Louis's call for decriminalization.

"I've got four young children and I'm not about to enter into a
discussion about whether we should make drugs legal," Stewart said.