TAKE A HARDER LINE WITH POT GROWERS

No matter what anyone might think of Canada's current laws related to the
harvesting, sale and personal consumption of marijuana, there is one
unavoidable truth that simply must be faced: That, in the enforcement of
those laws, we have become illogical, unfair and, perhaps, unwise.

Marijuana is illegal in Canada. It remains so over the objections of a
vocal lobby that wishes to see it de-criminalized. Whether the pro-pot
lobby has a valid point to make is a subject for another day, but what has
become increasingly beyond dispute is that our judicial treatment of those
involved in the illegal "pot pyramid" -- the growers, sellers and consumers
- -- has become irrational and confused.

That, among other reasons, is why we look with some favour upon Kitchener
council's current push for a five-year minimum jail term for people
convicted of charges related to marijuana homegrow operations. It is not as
though Kitchener's civic politicians are necessarily on the mark in their
call for five years in the slammer for the home-growers, but what this
civic council has recognized, and what our legal/judicial system has chosen
to ignore, is that a home-grow pot operation is both a serious infraction
of the law -- and a significant threat to public safety

As matters stand, it is not uncommon for our courts to deal with a
home-grower and a small-scale, street-corner seller in much the same
fashion. That is to say, both will be sentenced to nothing more than
so-called house arrest and both will have their convictions registered on a
criminal record.

This occurs in spite of the clear and obvious differences between a $100
street sale and a million-dollar cultivation project that involves a) the
growth of an illegal product for widespread sale, b) the large-scale theft
of city hydro, a serious offence by itself c) the potential fire danger to
occupants and neighbours and d) the ultimate threat of drug turf wars and
armed home invasions by drug competitors. This is already a significant
problem in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia, the home-grow
capital of Canada.

Kitchener's push for jail terms for home-growers, frankly, has little to do
with the issue of whether marijuana should or should not be legalized. All
the city seeks to do is put a sense of scale back into the penalties for
marijuana-linked offences, and on that score, this call for automatic jail
time deserves consideration.

No matter what you think of the current pot laws, selling the stuff on a
street-corner is not the same as hot-wiring a house in a subdivision full
of kids -- simply to grow, on a very large and dangerous scale, an illegal
product.

Our courts may have their own ambivalent feelings regarding the nation's
marijuana laws. They may feel what the nation itself appears to feel -- an
uncertainty, a hesitancy, over how to deal with an issue that has been with
us, and bedevilled us, for decades.

But these same courts need feel no ambivalence toward those reckless,
opportunistic individuals who so willfully and outrageously compromise
public safety for the purposes of a large profit gained illegally and
dangerously.