MINISTER CULTIVATES TOUGHER POT-GROWER PENALTIES

BROCKVILLE -- Unless Canada wants to stay in the ranks of Colombia and
Mexico, people who grow pot to sell should get prison time -- not a slap on
the wrist, Minister of Public Safety and Security Bob Runciman will tell
the feds next week.

"The profits are so high and the penalties are so low, there's no risk,"
the Brockville-area MPP said yesterday during a visit to the Leeds County
OPP detachment.

"The police use fishing terminology: Catch and release.

'Back In Business'

"Police dedicate all those resources to shutting these people down, then
they're right back in business. We're looking for penalties that will deter
this activity."

Runciman will press the feds, after consulting with his counterparts from
across Canada, at a meeting of federal and provincial justice ministers in
Calgary next week.

At minimum, those who grow marijuana to traffick should get prison time,
which means at least a two-year sentence, and a significant fine, he argues.

This country has become the third-largest supplier of marijuana to the U.S.
If the federal government doesn't take action, Canada will face increasing
pressure from the Americans to stop the flow of marijuana, potentially
disrupting the movement of legitimate travellers and commerce across the
border, Runciman said.

700 Pot Plots

Police estimate there are 700 grow operations in Ontario, most linked to
organized crime. Marijuana is now the province's third-biggest cash crop at
$1 billion a year.

Brockville Police Chief Barry King heads the Canadian Centre for Substance
Abuse.

Police in British Columbia tell him they have so many grow houses they shut
them down without charging anyone. The problem is growing here, too.

"The reason is in court people were getting conditional sentences and
probation," King said. "These are traffickers and they're getting probation."