MAYORALTY CANDIDATES DEBATE GROW-OP DATA

Mayoral candidate Brian Carlisle says a study of marijuana grow operations
in B.C. does not show a direct link to organized crime as Chilliwack Mayor
Clint Hames said at an all-candidates meeting last week.

The study by the University College of the Fraser Valley shows an average
number of 11 lights were seized by police in marijuana grow operations over
a four-year period.

"That's nowhere near organized crime," says Mr. Carlisle. "There's no way
to make a profit off that number of lights."

The study also says the high number of marijuana grow-ops in B.C. "actually
hindered police capacity" to respond to complaints "let alone engage in
their own intelligence gathering, investigation and proactive enforcement
activities."

But after the study Mayor Hames and local RCMP officials announced the
hiring of an additional two officers at a cost of $160,000 to shut down
grow-ops in Chilliwack, which had the second-highest number of
grow-operations per capita in the province.
Mr. Carlisle says that move was a "waste" of taxpayers' dollars.

UCFV professor Darryl Plecas, who co-authored the study, told The Progress
after the study was released in June that its findings clearly showed
marijuana grow-ops are not mom-and-pop operations growing a couple of
plants for a second income.
But co-author Yvon Dandurand, head of the UCFV criminology department, said
while there is a "high level of organization" to B.C. grow-ops, it is "not
organized in the sense we traditionally think of it."

He suggested directing police resources more toward the organizers of the
network feeding the huge black market demand for marijuana than toward the
growers.

"We've tried and spent a whole lot of money to eliminate the supply of the
stuff and it doesn't work," he said at the time.
However, judging by the applause at the all-candidates meeting, most people
support Mayor Hames' stand against marijuana grow-ops.