Series: Part 5 Of 5

GROWBUSTERS

Growers In Waterloo Region Face Tougher Sentences

VANCOUVER -- The street is quiet and sunlit as a home renovator steps out
of a house to fetch some tools from his van.

Looking across the street, he sees police hauling a family of four from a
home and stops to ask what's up.

The cops tell him they suspect another grow house. The renovator only
shrugs and walks away. Nobody is shocked by pot houses anymore. They're a
fact of life.

Some say a relaxed West Coast attitude has also permeated Canada's courts
when it comes to sentencing home-based pot growers.

In Vancouver, a typical pot grower gets less than a year of house arrest,
and maybe a fine, which seldom exceeds $2,500. Jail terms are rare, and
last only a few months. And they're only given to repeat offenders.

Frustrated police officers say no deterrent exists for pot growers.

"It's a legal system, not a justice system," said Sgt. Rollie Woods, head
of the Vancouver police drug unit.

Two years ago, Vancouver police launched Growbusters, a team of officers
whose sole job is raiding marijuana houses. They take away the plants and
lights, but rarely lay charges.

Chris Taulu, executive director of the Community Police Centre, said the
court system has failed to make a dent in the problem.

Taulu, a 64-year-old community activist who works to clean up pot
neighbourhoods, said conditional sentences given by judges are useless.

"You are given a pat on the wrist and (told) 'now be a good boy and go home
and sin no more until we catch you again,"' she said.

"He's back growing the next day. He's growing during the time he goes to
court. You haven't stopped him."

Taulu said most fines are no deterrent either.

"A lousy $2,000 fine. That's a couple of plants maybe, if he gets caught."

In Waterloo Region police and the courts aren't so relaxed about marijuana
growers. So far, a handful of people have gone to jail for offences that
would only have earned them a fine in Vancouver.

In January, Justice Colin Westman sentenced two men of Vietnamese descent
to jail for operating separate grow houses in Kitchener. A 35-year-old
received nine months, and a 45-year-old went away for a year.

The following month Westman sentenced a 40-year-old woman, an illegal
immigrant from Vietnam, to 56 days in jail. He told the court that although
the woman had been recruited only to tend to the marijuana crop, he wanted
to send a message to her employers.

In another local case in February, a 46-year-old man of Vietnamese descent
received a 15-month conditional sentence and a $30,000 fine.

Local police say they will continue to present every home grow case in
court with details on the fire hazards involved, the huge losses to hydro
utilities and the impact on the community.

Pat Flynn, a local drug prosecutor, said he shares police concerns, but he,
too, says judges are trapped by the legislation.

"I would love to have before the court an accused transporting half a
million dollars worth of marijuana out of the region," said Flynn, who
believes that could bring a harsher sentence to those involved in the
pot-growing business.

When it comes to smoking dope, police in Vancouver often turn a blind eye.
"We never charge people with possession," said Woods. "In a way, it's
legalized."

Two Vancouver cafes openly allow customers to light up joints and the
British Columbia Compassion Club Society sells cannabis to those with
debilitating ailments. It's illegal, but police say the Compassion Club is
discreet and sells pot to sick people.

By contrast, the Marijuana Teahouse was closed down in February.

Woods said the owner claimed his business was similar to the Compassion
Club, but undercover officers made three buys and discovered apparently
healthy teenagers who were routinely getting high.

Across the country, ambivalence about marijuana is plainly evident in the
government's reticence decriminalize it or even set clear standards on
medical use.

Groups supporting decriminalization include the Association of Canadian
Police Chiefs, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and the Canadian Bar
Association.

Waterloo regional police Chief Larry Gravill said first-or second-time
offenders should not be handed a criminal record for smoking dope.

But in Vancouver, the relaxed attitude to marijuana is really a matter of
practicality because police there have bigger drug problems to worry about.

On the downtown's gritty east side, heroin addicts and hookers line the
streets in some areas. Stores and businesses have steel bars on their
windows, and at the end of the day, merchants roll down heavy steel doors
to protect their livelihoods from those lingering in the night.

Even the police station had front-door locks installed after addicts were
found "shooting up" in the bathrooms.