POT 'STAGGERING'

TORONTO -- Calls on Ottawa to lessen the criminal consequences of drug use
were all but eclipsed yesterday by harrowing law-enforcement tales about
Canada's "staggering" hydroponic marijuana industry.

Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino was among several Ontario police
officials to tell a Commons committee on non-medical drugs just how bad
Canada's pot problem has become.

"The sheer volume of sites is a significant drain on police resources,"
Fantino told the committee during hearings in Toronto.

Indeed, the sale of Canadian marijuana -- now so potent it can no longer be
considered a "soft drug" -- is likely financing heroin and ecstasy
operations and other criminal enterprises, he added.

Homegrown weed is fast becoming one of Canada's largest and fastest-growing
industries, said Waterloo police Supt. Bill Stevens. "The profusion of
marijuana growing operations across Canada is staggering," Stevens said.