POT GROWING OPERATIONS A THREAT TO SOCIETY: POLICE CHIEF

Indoor growing operations increased by 250 per cent in Ontario between
2000-02, according a report released Wednesday

Local News - What harm could there be in growing a little weed indoors?
Lots, according to a new report by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

Green Tide: Indoor Marijuana Cultivation and its Impact on Ontario exposes
a growing organized crime involvement in pot cultivation.

According to the report, released Wednesday, an estimated 10,000 children
live in cultivation houses and are exposed to numerous health and safety
risks. Millions of dollars in electricity are stolen every year to fuel the
growing operations, which has direct impact on hydro rates.

Sudbury, like most Ontario cities, is seeing growth in the illegal activity.

"Sure, it's going on," said Deputy Chief Jim Cunningham of Greater Sudbury
Police. "We took a place down last week on Bancroft Drive, a house with a
grow operation that bypassed the hydro.

"It's a serious problem."

Indoor "grow ops" increased by 250 per cent between 2000-02, according to
the report's findings. It's estimated that 15,000 such operations were
flourishing in the province in 2002, when police seized 1.2 million plants.

Pot cultivation is not a nickel-and-dime operation. An estimated 1.2
million kilograms of saleable pot were produced in 2002, generating revenue
of as much as $12.7 billion, the report states.

"The fact that organized crime seems to be fuelling the expansion of
commercial marijuana grow ops is reason for grave concern for police and
the people of Ontario," said Vaughn Collins, Ontario Provincial Police
deputy commissioner, in a press release.

"These criminal groups are well-organized, well-financed and ruthless in
pursuit of their business."

The operations, Cunningham said, are often booby-trapped and pose a serious
risk to police, fire and ambulance personnel called to investigate them.

"It's dangerous for our people to go inside these grow operations," he
said, adding that there is a high potential for fires and explosions
because of the rerouted electricity lines, heat and humidity inside the houses.

"Most people who have an investment, protect that investment by some means.
With a grow op, you booby-trap it. It's done in any number of ways -
explosives, bear traps, a firearm set to go off when you open the door.
They are all deadly."

The report estimates that $85 million worth of illegal electricity was
stolen by indoor pot growers in 2002. Fires in grow ops are 40 times more
likely than in a normal household.

The operations are increasingly found near schools and residential
neighbourhoods.

"The big problem is not the kid in the street that smokes a little pot,"
said Cunningham. "It's organized crime. It's biker related."

Ontario's police chiefs want to get tough with growers and are calling for
stiffer penalties to deter the activity. Currently, growers aren't running
scared from the law, they say.

"It's time to give the law some teeth," said Durham Regional Police Chief
Kevin McAlphine in a statement.