POT CULTIVATION TAKES RISING TOLL

Grow-Ops Most Afflict Suburban Areas

Chiefs Cite Crime, Financial, Even Health Risks

An "epidemic" of indoor marijuana grow operations in Ontario poses an
increasing threat to public safety by bringing organized crime to
residential neighbourhoods, says a study released yesterday by the Ontario
Association of Chiefs of Police.

At the same time, the study says, it's costing householders in the GTA an
extra $50 each a year in stolen electricity costs.

Between 2000 and 2002, it's estimated, the number of grow-ops increased by
250 per cent. By the end of this year they could produce and house as much
as 1.2 million kilograms of marijuana -- much of it destined for the U.S.
market, where it could generate billions of dollars, according to the
56-page study titled "Green Tide."

Ontario is becoming one of the world's leading marijuana exporters, police
say, possibly forming the province's third largest agricultural sector. In
1998, U.S. Customs seized 369 kilograms coming in from Canada. In 2002,
that amount skyrocketed to 9,477 kilograms. Some of the pot being smuggled
out is exchanged for cocaine, ecstasy and guns headed north, police say.

The study estimates Ontario had up to 14,900 active grow-ops last year.
This year, it estimates only 11,380 -- if police manage to dismantle a
projected 10 per cent. In Toronto, 111 operations have been dismantled this
year, compared with 33 in 2001. In York Region, with a much smaller
population, police dismantled 190 this year.

The association said it's the first time police have publicly released a
report of this nature. The chiefs hope to heighten public awareness and
prod governments to do more to deal with the issue, representatives told a
Queen's Park news conference yesterday.

Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said afterward that grow houses are
a "scourge on our society."

"Under federal Criminal Code legislation, the penalties are not serious
enough to deter them. They say, 'Big deal, I make a million bucks, and if I
can do it for two or three years, so what if I spend a few months in jail?'
These sentences are far too lax, so I think we really have to beef up the
penalty side of it."

Well-organized, well-financed, transnational and "ruthless" organized
criminals are fuelling the expansion, which "put the neighbours and the
kids and the dog next door at risk," said association president and Halton
Region police Chief Ean Algar.

British Columbia studies estimate 85 per cent of grow-ops there are run by
motorcycle gangs and Asian organized crime. "Our experience here, and we're
studying this further, is that we're approaching those similar numbers here
in Ontario, and those similar groups," said Vaughn Collins, deputy
commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Collins said the lure of the "high-profit, low-risk" enterprise is enormous
in comparison to the United States, where penalties tend to be stiffer. "We
have seen, in some cases, people moving to Canada to grow here," he said.

"British Columbia was first; Ontario has certainly jumped in with both feet
.. it's gotten to epidemic proportions, and it's spreading across the
country," Collins said. Drug units are "completely overwhelmed in
response," he said.

Typically, grow-ops are found in 2,000-square-foot houses in suburban
neighbourhoods, the study found. The dwelling will have an unfinished
basement to facilitate wiring, a fireplace to vent odours and an attached
garage to conceal vehicles to transport the harvested crops, the study
said. Start-up costs are estimated at $25,000, which can easily generate
600 plants with a retail profit of $600,000 annually.

"Crop sitters" often live within the toxic environment, the study said.
That includes families with an estimated 10,000 children, who are exposed
to hazards ranging from pesticides to high humidity, mould, and "the gang
from across the street breaking the door down to steal the crop," Algar said.

Grow-op activity is increasing in Toronto -- even in apartments -- as
operations are displaced from surrounding areas by police crackdowns, which
often begin with a neighbour's tip, said Deputy Chief Steve Reesor.

Toronto police blame grow-ops for a rise in crime and at least one
homicide. According to the hold-up squad, 44 of the 180 home invasions so
far this year are suspected of being drug rip-offs.