GROW-OPS SWAMP COPS

Tougher penalties for pot houses: Chiefs

An explosion in the number of marijuana grow houses is outstripping police
resources and threatening communities across Ontario, the province's police
chiefs say. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is urging
governments to take this threat more seriously with a two-year minimum jail
sentence for growers.

The police chiefs released "Green Tide" yesterday, a study on indoor pot
cultivation that found the number of "grow-ops" increased by over 250%
between 2000 and 2002.

Durham Regional Police Chief Kevin McAlpine said the average hydro ratepayer
spends an estimated $50 a year to cover the electricity stolen by grow
houses.

The study also estimates as many as 10,000 children lived in grow houses
between 2000-03.

McAlpine said police often find youngsters in the houses despite the
enhanced fire risk, heavy pesticide use, mould and security risks.

OPP Deputy Commissioner Vaughn Collins said organized crime outfits --
especially biker gangs -- are behind many grow-ops.

The operations are frequently located in single-family homes in quiet
neighbourhoods.

Most of the crop is headed for the United States market, he said.

Collins said the legal penalties are so much lighter in Ontario that some
growers move here from the U.S.

Growers caught in Ontario are usually given a fine or probation, but rarely
jail time, as is the common penalty in the U.S.

"All of us in policing in terms of all of our drug units are completely
overwhelmed in response to this," Collins said. "And we cannot do any more
and we're not slowing it down. It's continuing to grow."

The study says that even if marijuana is seen as a "relatively benign
recreational drug," its illegal sale is giving up to $600,000 a year per
grow house to organized crime.