POLICE WANT LIST OF GROWERS

OTTAWA -- Health Canada is putting people at risk by refusing to give
police a list of the 413 people the government has authorized to grow pot,
according to the head of the RCMP's marijuana grow operations enforcement
unit. Staff Sgt. Marc Pinault says police have failed in their attempts to
convince the federal government that providing the names and addresses of
the people it has issued pot-growing licenses could prevent injuries during
dangerous drug raids.

"(Health Canada's) legal advice is the privacy doesn't allow them to do
it," Pinault said, adding he's spoken directly to Health Minister Anne
McLellan about the issue.

"I asked Health Canada ... who is going to take responsibility on the next
case where an officer kicks in a door, and we shoot somebody or an officer
breaks his leg going up the stairs -- who is going to take responsibility?"
Pinault said.

Health Canada has set up a toll-free number police officers can call during
business hours to get the information. But Pinault dismissed the line as
"inadequate," adding that it doesn't help officers who are getting tips in
the middle of the night.

Health Canada's Cindy Cripps-Prawak admitted the hours of operation of the
line are a problem.

"We are exploring with the RCMP how we can make it ... a 24-7 access,"
Cripps-Prawak said.

Toronto-area Liberal MP Dan McTeague argued the police should be given all
the tools needed to do drug investigations. "It is a recipe for disaster,"
McTeague said yesterday.