POLICE WOULDN'T BE FARTHER AHEAD IF POT LEGALIZED: DRUG SQUAD BOSS

Fifteen grams. Even if it becomes legal to possess that much
marijuana, the head of Belleville's police drug and intelligence
branch doesn't buy into the arguments for decriminalization. "That's a
lot of weed," said Staff Sergeant Mike Graham. Out on the street, one
gram sells for $10 to $15 and certainly 15 grams can make someone a
fair chunk of change. "You can be in possession of 15 grams and still
sell that," he said.

Graham reacted strongly to a recently published Statistics Canada
report that suggests the federal government's plan to decriminalize
possession of marijuana would free up thousands of hours and millions
of dollars in police manpower. The report, based on what police
agencies are reporting, reveals that drug-related crime was at a
20-year high in 2002 and that most instances involved pot. In
addition, 75 per cent of drug-related incidents that same year
involved marijuana while most of those, about 72 per cent, were for
possession.

Members of Parliament are now debating a bill on Parliament Hill that
would allow someone to possess 15 grams of pot, equal to about 20
joints. The bill also favours levying fines of between $100 and $400
instead of imposing a criminal record on those caught with smaller
amounts.

"I think it's a terrible idea," the staff sergeant said of the idea to
relax pot laws. "I don't think it's going to free up officer time at
all. It's not going to affect our workload at all." He suggested that
police would still have to spend their valuable time determining if
someone has more than 15 grams.

The proposed bill maintains or increases penalties for large grow
operations and marijuana traffickers. Graham certainly wants to see
more jail time for those profiting from the drug trade. "We have to
increase our penalties," he said. "We have to take a stand on these
large grows." And Belleville is as much at risk of these large-scale
operations as any place. Belleville police, in conjunction with
Project Longarm, uncovered two large indoor grow operations in Stanley
Park subdivision a couple of years ago. Each operation had about 600
plants, equivalent to about $600,000. Investigators believe the pot
was destined for export at the hands of organized crime, although they
don't know where.

While Graham didn't want to get into specifics about jail time, he
said all too often those employed in the drug trade get "a slap on the
wrist. Why wouldn't he not get back into this?"

And many times those in the drug trade don't discriminate against the
type of drugs they want to sell. "Anybody can grow marijuana," the
staff sergeant explained. Cocaine also has a big market locally,
Graham noted. Competition is also fierce among traffickers, which can
pose a serious safety problem to local residents who may get caught in
the middle of something deadly. "Violence goes hand-in-hand with
drugs," Graham said, adding that it's all about the bottom line:
money. "People are making a lot of money growing pot."

Graham also is not surprised to hear the Statistics Canada report
reveal the connection between violence and drugs. More specifically,
the report found that one in ten homicides between 1992 and 2002
involved drug trafficking or settling drug-related accounts; 60 per
cent of those murders involved cocaine while 20 per cent involved
pot--well above the five per cent that were connected to heroin.
"Major incidents of violence are related to drug trafficking and drug
use," Graham explained, "even in Belleville."

Settling drug debts can pose real trouble because drug addicts will
often ring up a debt and "the dealers have to collect their money,"
said Graham, whether it be through threats or violence like
kidnappings, assaults or murders--all which have happened in the
Belleville area. "It happens all the time. It's just a big circle," he
continued. "That's why I'm perplexed why anybody would want to
decriminalize marijuana."

The headway the local drug unit is making is largely thanks to Quinte
Crime Stoppers. Tips called in have culminated in the seizure of more
than $21-million in narcotics, particularly pot and cocaine since
1988, said Constable Doug Norman, the Belleville service's Crime
Stoppers co-ordinator. Last year alone, more than $7.5-million worth
of drugs were seized. And so far this year for January and February,
Crime Stoppers tips resulted in the seizure of $12,625 in pot. "So the
drug unit really depends on us," Norman said. If you have a tip on a
crime please call Quinte Crime Stoppers at (613) 969-8477 or call toll
free at 1-800-222-TIPS.