JUSTICE SYSTEM MELLOW ON POT GROWERS: AUTHOR

Stiffer court sentences and more attention from the justice system are
what's needed to curtail the epidemic of marijuana growing operations in
the Fraser Valley, according to the author of a study that put Abbotsford
in the top 10 of pot-producing B.C. municipalities.

University College of the Fraser Valley criminology professor Darryl Plecas
told the Abbotsford police board last week that the justice system is not
keeping up with the good work of the Abbotsford Police Department when it
comes to marijuana growing operations.

"I think the judges could take a more realistic look at their sentences . .
." Plecas told board commissioners.

"The average person (growing pot) gets absolutely nothing," Plecas said.

At the same time, Plecas also said that Abbotsford had the highest number
of growing operations being dismantled by police.

"You're already doing the job better than anyone else and, so what? It
doesn't seem to be making any difference."

Plecas' study on the B.C. Bud industry - based on police files - showed
Abbotsford had the eighth highest number of marijuana growing operations in
B.C. between 1997 and 2000 and the sixth highest amount per capita over the
same time period.

"We know that the volume is so huge that it's affecting the police's
ability to respond," Plecas told the police board commissioners.

He said that through his study he found 70 per cent of people with nine or
more convictions never went to jail.

Plecas estimated that marijuana growing operators faced a one-in-four
chance of getting caught; then a one-in-five chance of getting charged;
then a one-in-five chance of going to jail; and, even then, it's like only
for four months.

Against those odds, Plecas said, operators are making $130,000 tax free -
four times a year.

Plecas said that his two studies - one on marijuana growing operations and
one on drug trafficking - looked at 12,000 cases that only resulted in
2,500 people in court.

Plecas compared the local justice system's sentencing practices to those of
Whatcom County where stiffer sentences have wiped out growing operations.

"They took the most recidivistic criminals and put them in jail. That's why
their crime rate plummeted," Plecas said.

"Sixty-eight per cent (of B.C. cases) would have got at least five years if
sentenced under Whatcom County sentencing practices.

"We have very few criminals," he added. "We have very prolific ones."

As well, Plecas said Crown prosecutors, eager to secure convictions, will
often drop charges against 63 per cent of those originally charged in an
effort to secure a conviction against someone.

He said that at the prosecution stage, "there appears to be a trading off
by the prosecutors" in return for a conviction.

He also said Alberta has harsher sentences that have reduced, if not
eliminated, marijuana growing operations there.

Plecas said the B.C. problem is systemic and one of public perception.

"There's a mindset out there that it's no big deal," he said of the
marijuana industry.

"There's a perception that these are mom-and-pop operations. . . . Nothing
could be further from the truth."

He told commissioners the operations are growing in size and sophistication
and he said they're being run by organized crime.

Plecas told the commissioners that the average operator had seven prior
convictions and 13 years of criminal history.

The public mindset, he warned, will change when there are bodies laying on
pavement because of a turf war.

Abbotsford Police Chief Const. Ian Mackenzie said criminals do their own
cost-benefit analysis.

"This is a calculated crime. It's not a crime of passion," he said.

"It's a sensible way of making money" for the criminals, he said.

The board voted to send letters to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell,
Solicitor-General Rich Coleman and federal politicians as well.

Mackenzie said, "I think we still have to continue to apply pressure from
the front end while applying pressure from the back end."