HELP US WITH POT 'EPIDEMIC'

A Surrey Member of Parliament is calling for more federal help in the
battle against indoor marijuana operations.

Chuck Cadman made the appeal as a just-released study by the RCMP indicates
indoor pot growing is outpacing the ability of police to control the problem.

The review of pot operations across Canada by the RCMP Criminal
Intelligence Directorate in Ottawa found police are struggling to keep up
with a sharp increase in illicit indoor marijuana grow ops, especially in B.C.

"In some parts of the country, the phenomenon has reached epidemic
proportions," the report stated.

"Police resources are now being taxed to the point where difficult choices
must be made when faced with competing priorities," the report added.

The report estimates B.C. accounts for 44 per cent of all marijuana
cultivation in the country.

Cadman, the Opposition justice critic, says the report is more evidence
that police can't keep up with the growth in grow ops, especially in his
Surrey North riding.

"They're really overwhelmed," Cadman said.

The MP says he averages "two to three letters and e-mails a day"
complaining about grow ops from residents of his riding, most of them in
the Fraser Heights area, where as many as half of the houses on some
streets are suspected indoor grow ops.

It's time the feds took the problem seriously, Cadman said, beefing up
resources to fight it, hiring more police and toughening up the court
system to provide sterner penalties.

"I'm frustrated on behalf of my constituents."

Release of the national report comes two months after an analysis by the
local RCMP drug section that reported the Surrey detachment only has enough
resources to raid 300 indoor grow ops a year out of the estimated 3,500 to
4,500 active in Surrey, most of them in newer neighbourhoods like Fraser
Heights.

However, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum disputes Cadman's assessment that the
problem has grown beyond the power of police to fight it.

It's not an issue of how many officers are thrown at the problem, McCallum
insisted, but what happens when the people arrested stand trial.

"I think a far more important thing is for the courts to send a message,"
McCallum argued.

The new RCMP report appeared to support the mayor's view to some degree,
quoting a study by the University College of the Fraser Valley that found
B.C. pot growers face far less severe penalties than their U.S.
counterparts -- a maximum of two years for possessing 45 kilos of marijuana
compared to seven years in the U.S.

"High profitability, low risk, and relatively lenient sentences continue to
entice growers, making it difficult if not impossible for law enforcement
agencies to make a truly lasting impact on the marijuana cultivation
industry in Canada," the report concluded. The mayor views the new findings
as further proof pot growing is a national problem that needs national
solutions, including tougher laws and more consistent enforcement of the
existing laws.

But McCallum also believes individual municipalities have the means to
combat pot growing through creative measures like the Surrey bylaw that
fines landlords for police and fire costs associated with arrests at
marijuana grow operations.