POT BUSTS AND POLICE PROPAGANDA

Editor:

Re: 'Saltair pot bust nets 60 plants' (The Chronicle, April 10).

Ladysmith RCMP Cpl. Rob Graves stated the net street value of 60
plants seized in the arrest was approximately $70,000.

Such a claim leads me to two obvious conclusions.

1) Corporal Graves and his "Green Team" task force from the Nanaimo
RCMP have been smoking the proceeds of [drug busts] to derive such a
net worth from 60 plants, as they seem to believe one plant has a
street value of more than $1,000 dollars.

2) The RCMP [intentionally] exaggerate the value of seized marijuana
crops by more than 90 per cent when it is seized as undried plants and
have been doing so for years.

As the article [The Chronicle] published provided a picture, it was
handy so the public can see from the wide angle of the lens shot what
the police cut and weighed that day to come up with the ludicrous
$70,000 value.

These plants were ripped from the dirt and weighed. All living
organisms are comprised mostly of water. Plants are 90 to 95 per cent
water. Roughly the same percentage the police use when they exaggerate
the value when they weigh unsaleable, wet plants. Street value?
Worthless. Worth nothing if not dried properly for days.

I am not condoning this woman or her husband for stealing hydro. Theft
is a crime committed, and is dangerous and unacceptable in any
circumstance. By rule of law these people should be tried with the
facts, not exaggerated evidence.

The net worth of 60 dried and marketable plants? It would be anywhere
from $3,500 to $4,000.

Is biology not a requirement for a high school diploma anymore? Is a
high school diploma not a prerequisite for RCMP candidates?

I believe our boys in blue are usually brave men doing a hard job and
deserve to be respected. In return, as the public pays their wages, I
would expect them to respect the public they serve enough not to
insult our intelligence by outright grandiose lies in an effort to
receive more adulation and recognition. This letter is not to advocate
the legalization of marijuana, it is written to demonstrate law is
reason without passion, not a forum for grandstanding tactics.

Laura Bohun,

Ladysmith