TOUGHER POT-GROW PENALTIES URGED

WATERLOO REGION - Waterloo Region has joined its three cities in calling
for stiffer penalties for people who grow large amounts of marijuana indoors.

Regional councillors railed away yesterday against the drug traffickers --
and against local judges who have been sentencing the guilty to house
arrest for crimes that threaten public safety.

"I get more when you catch me speeding," said Coun. Joe Martens."It's just
ludicrous that all they get is house arrest."

Coun. Jane Mitchell also weighed in.

"My feeling is that the judges are falling down here," she said.

The region, concerned for public safety, wants legislation changed to
ensure five years in prison for anybody convicted of using a residence to
cultivate marijuana.

Coun. Jim Wideman noted that judges already have the power to sentence drug
traffickers to life in prison.

"The people who are falling down on this are not the legislators -- they're
the judges," he said.

Councillors voted to send a copy of their concerns to all local judges.

The Waterloo regional police board has also joined the call for stiffer
penalties, but without demanding a prison term.

Conditional sentences served at home are just not effective, board members
agreed yesterday.

"There needs to be more of a deterrent. It's a pervasive problem that is
netting huge amounts of money for organized crime," said police Chief Larry
Gravill.

Police figure $1 million can be made from a home-grow operation. It's now
estimated there are more than 200 such homes in Waterloo Region, in
addition to the 68 already busted.

Politicians are spooked by the safety risks of the operations, as shown in
a police video played yesterday.

The video showed houses where crudely bypassed hydro connections have
created fire and electrocution risks. They're also full of dangerous
plant-growing chemicals.

Since the first local home-grow was discovered 19 months ago:

Two home-grow residences have burned down. One was near a Cambridge grade
school. The other, in Kitchener, was occupied by four children who escaped
thanks to a quick-thinking neighbour.

Last month, a home-grow in Cambridge destroyed two transformers and left a
neighbourhood without power for 12 hours. Neighbours lost Christmas
groceries and tropical fish worth hundreds of dollars.

A hydro worker burned a hole through his shovel while uncovering a buried
hydro bypass.

York regional police stopped a man who had been charged in Kitchener for a
home-grow operation -- and found a body in his car. The person had died of
natural causes at a home-grow but was being moved to avoid discovery.

Police say this incident shows how far some people will go to protect their
criminal enterprises.