CANADA'S 50,000 POT GROW-OPS

Marijuana growers steal a billion dollars in electricity, and that's just
in Ontario

Most Canadians pay little attention to news that another marijuana
grow-operation in a suburban neighbourhood has resulted in arrests and
seizure of a few hundred pot plants. But would they care more if they knew
that marijuana operations cost homeowners about $34 apiece extra each year
on their electricity bills?

According to Klaas Degroot, board chairman of the Electricity Distributors
Association, Ontario, Canadians should care more, and so should the
government. Just in Ontario, electricity theft by grow-ops is estimated at
$1 billion. Growers bypass meters and tap directly into supply lines so
law-enforcement officials will not notice the tenfold increase in power
consumption.

Mr. Degroot blames organized crime for many of the country's
grow-operations, which are often run quietly out of larger homes in nice
suburban neighbourhoods. His organization is one of many pressuring the
federal government to come down hard on pot growers, with minimum sentences
for those convicted of marijuana cultivation.

Bob Runciman, federal public safety and security commissioner, told
reporters last month that Canada is third only to Mexico and Colombia as a
supplier of high-grade marijuana to the United States market. He notes most
pot growers receive a conditional sentence, which is hardly a deterrent.

For example, a small "mom-and-pop" crop of 100 plants produces an annual
profit of well over $110,000. A medium crop of 500 plants averages about
$350,000 yearly profit, and a conviction will result in, at most, a
sentence of nine months. A grower with a 20,000-plant crop, bringing in a
whopping $10 million a year, might receive an 18-month jail term from a
strict judge, but is more likely to receive a conditional sentence. In the
U.S., a marijuana-trafficking conviction could easily end with a life
prison sentence.

Police believe there are currently at least 50,000 houses in Canada used
for the sole purpose of growing marijuana, and they warn the problem will
only get bigger. In 2000, for example, Ontario police obtained 160 warrants
for marijuana grow-operations. By last year, that number soared to 650.

Most times, the houses are discovered only after neighbours report comings
and goings at odd hours, a strange odour from the house or a constant hum
that sounds like a noisy fan. Meanwhile, until they are caught, growers
steal hundreds of dollars in electricity to run the high-voltage lamps
needed to grow marijuana.

In Ontario, Hamilton Hydro estimates it loses $5.5 million each year to pot
growers stealing electricity to power hydroponic operations in their
basement or attic. Toronto is also being hit hard by grow-ops, with police
estimating there are 10,000 houses growing marijuana just in the Greater
Toronto area.

Richard Pollock, a crown prosecutor for Windsor and Essex County in Ontario
believes the solution lies with the legal system and stiffer sentences for
drug growers. "We have consistently asked for jail sentences in
sophisticated hydroponic grow -operations," he says. "Oftentimes we haven't
convinced the courts."

Is a grow-op next door?

Signs that the house next door may be a grow-op:

* strange people visit the house at strange hours * the residents are
rarely seen * no one ever sees the moving van and furniture arrive * the
blinds are drawn, or the curtains are always shut * the lights are on, but
no one ever seems to be at home * moisture or condensation forms on the
windows * the roof is dry on chilly mornings * a humming noise, like a fan,
is audible * the windows are covered with foil or material (to preserve
heat in the home) * the basement windows are boarded up