POT BUST SOARING

A view among Ontario cops that they're being overwhelmed in the war
against marijuana also rings true in Calgary where seizures have risen
five-fold since 2001, a senior city police officer says.

A report released earlier this month by the Criminal Intelligence
Service Ontario estimates that province's cannabis growers produced
between $2 billion and $12.5 billion of the drug between 2000 and 2002.

Police agencies in Ontario say they're powerless to make a dent in the
proliferating grow operations.

Police in Calgary are in a similar situation, said Insp. Brian Skeet
of the organized crime unit.

"In 2001, we had $9 million worth of marijuana seizures and this year,
it'll top $50 million," said Skeet. "And we're only hitting one-third
of the tips we're getting in ... as soon as we take one down, one or
two are started up."

The increase in the amount of pot confiscated is both an indication of
better police detection but also a barometer of the profusion of grow
operations, said Skeet.

"There's certainly a growth in the industry ... the profit margins on
these operations is so significant they make losses (caused by drug
busts) easier to take," said Skeet.

Earlier this year, city police and RCMP formed a joint force to tackle
the marijuana problem, adding two more officers.

That, along with heightened public awareness leading to tips, has
helped snare more of the drugs and their producers, said Skeet.

But the powerful demand for the drug -- often in the U.S. -- is a
potent motivator for those who produce it, he added.

"The quality of the product is far superior to that grown in the
States or Mexico," he said, adding those factors have also changed the
local face of growers.

"It's gone from being individuals with one or two grows to being a
very organized network controlled by organized crime," he said.

Despite the challenges, Skeet said it's no time to abandon the war on
pot by easing drug laws.