cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Grow-Ops in B.C. Jumped by 222 Percent 





Marijuana Grow-Ops in B.C. Jumped by 222 Percent 
Posted by CN Staff on June 13, 2002 at 11:25:41 PT
By Camilla Bains, Canadian Press 
Source: Canadian Press 
People who run British Columbia's proliferating marijuana grow operations face little risk in the high-profit industry because police have no control of the situation reaching a crisis point, says a professor who headed the province's first comprehensive study of the problem. There was a 222 per cent increase in the number of illicit marijuana grow-ops in B.C. between 1997 and 2000, said Darryl Plecas, a criminologist at the University College of the Fraser Valley in suburban Abbotsford. "We're Colombia north," Plecas said in discussing the study that will be released Thursday. It says the Vancouver suburb of Delta experienced a 1,293 per cent jump in the number of marijuana grow-ops during the four-year period. 
Please see below for QuickFacts on marijuana grow-ops in British Columbia."We have three times the national average (of grow-ops) and seven times the national average if you look at those jurisdictions in B.C. that have the highest concentration of growth," Plecas said. The study reviewed almost 12,000 cases of alleged marijuana cultivation cases investigated by police in every B.C. RCMP detachment and municipal police force between 1997 and 2000. During that time, police seized 1.2 million plants and 8,646 kilograms of harvested marijuana, with an estimated value of between $462 million and $1.25 billion, the study said. "The growth has been so great, so fast, that they've been unable to respond to the extent that they might have liked to," Plecas said. "In 2000, there were 23 per cent of cases that they couldn't take action on; they just couldn't get to them," he said, adding police lack the resources needed to stem the increase in grow-ops producing high-grade B.C. bud that's exported worldwide. The majority of cases police investigated came to light after anonymous tips from neighbours or landlords or when police happened to find a grow-op while serving a warrant, for example, Plecas said. Only five per cent of grow-op investigations resulted from proactive police work. "I think that's important for people to know because it says that police aren't going out of their way to get these," he said. "All they're doing is trying to handle the volume that's been given to them and clearly it's reached the point where it looks like they're losing it, that they're not able to handle it." RCMP spokeswoman Const. Danielle Efford said the study confirmed the belief among police agencies that the number of B.C. grow-ops has increased substantially in the last few years. "We certainly are doing our job at enforcing the laws," Efford said. But she wouldn't comment on whether police lack resources. "I'm not going to say that there are not enough cops or there are enough. What we're going to have to do is analyse this report . . . and reassess what we're doing. "We target the organized crime groups that are heavily involved and will continue to target these groups, these major players that are at the top." In the majority of cases, suspects during the 1997 to 2000 period were Caucasian males in their mid-30s, usually with an average 13-year criminal history, Plecas said. There was also an almost 20-fold increase in the number of Vietnamese suspects involved in illegal grow-ops in the Greater Vancouver area, he said. Plecas said he didn't know why but that twice as many Vietnamese grow-op suspects came to British Columbia from Ontario compared with their Caucasian counterparts. Criminal organizations in general have been moving their marijuana grow-ops to British Columbia from other provinces or from neighbouring states. "There is concern about how the huge profits realized by the marijuana growing operations can be used by organized criminal elements to finance other activities or to illegally control other markets or parts of the local economy," says the lengthy report. Plecas said there are few consequences for those whose grow-ops are busted because sentences are not severe enough or, in many cases, charges are dropped if the case took too long to get to court. That's an issue even when many grow-op suspects are seasoned criminals with an average of seven prior convictions, including those that involve drugs, he said. Police must consider a more strategic approach to dealing with the problem instead of concentrating on the impact of other drugs such as cocaine, Plecas said. "When marijuana becomes a commodity to purchase cocaine then you would think there's a reason to take another view of it." Increasingly higher yields of B.C. bud, helped by sophisticated grow-op technology such as special timers and automatic watering and plant feeding systems, also pose a threat of violence in neighbourhoods where the problem is becoming endemic, the study says. The rate of hydroponic equipment outlets per hundred thousand population is five times more accessible in British Columbia compared with Alberta and 10 times that of Washington state, Plecas said. He said there were 508 ads for hydroponic equipment in the 2000-2001 Yellow Pages in British Columbia - "50 times as many as Washington state and 30 times as many as Alberta." Most of the illegal operations are in private homes where the risk of fires created by modified electrical equipment is also high, Plecas said. The total amount of electricity stolen to keep illicit marijuana grow-ops functioning during the four years the study considered was estimated at $3.5 million, with $1.5 million for 2000 alone, the study said. Chief Const. Jim Cessford of the RCMP detachment in Delta said police have held community meetings to educate people on how to spot homes that may include grow-ops to try to control the problem. Signs of a possible grow-op include windows covered with aluminum foil to preserve heat in the home, he said. Facts from a study about the alarming growth rate of marijuana grow-ops in B.C between 1997 and 2000.:Growth rate: 222 per cent. Biggest increase: In Delta, B.C., where grow-ops jumped by 1,293 per cent. Some reasons for increase: Lack of police resources, light sentences and stayed charges because of court delays. Number of plants seized during four-year period: 1.2 million. Estimated value of pot seized: Between $462 million and $1.25 billion. Scope of study: Reviewed almost 12,000 cases of alleged marijuana cultivation. Typical person involved: Caucasian male in his mid-30s with an average 13-year criminal history. Average number of days before police began investigating cases: 29 days in 2000 compared to 17 in 1997. Dollar amount of electricity stolen to power grow-ops: $3.5 million. Complete Title: Marijuana Grow-Ops in B.C. Jumped by 222 Percent in Four Years: ExpertSource: Canadian PressAuthor: Camilla Bains, Canadian PressPublished: Thursday, June 13, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Canadian PressRelated Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmDrug Czar Visits Canada Wants Tougher War on Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13109.shtmlCommittee Invites Advice on Legalizing Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13045.shtmlCanada: The Debate Over Decriminalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12697.shtmlShould We Treat Pot Like Tobacco? Senators Ask http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12696.shtml 
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Comment #21 posted by Naaps on June 14, 2002 at 15:50:51 PT
It is Becoming Clearer
The Province newspaper here in Vancouver ran a story following up on yesterday's story regarding the report released by criminologist Darryl Plecas. Of course, it isn't posted on their website, only because I happen to have the print edition did I see the article.    Anyway, the story clarifies that it was the RCMP who commissioned the report. Interestingly, the RCMP on the behalf of BC's Soliciter-General, Rich Coleman, is replacing and augmenting municipal forces throughout the area, including Delta, which was specifically identified as the fastest growth area for cannabis cultivation This suggests that they want the problem to seem large and threatening so that they can say, "We need more resources". Further, Rich Coleman made statements within the past couple weeks suggesting he is poised to crank up the enforcement and sentencing of cannabis gardeners. Putting it all in perspective, the report definitely has the goal of softening the public for another crackdown, all at taxpayer's expense. We'll see how close this prediction comes to being true.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on June 14, 2002 at 10:16:53 PT
Article from The Vancouver Sun
Hi Everyone,
We can't post articles from The Vancouver Sun too but here is the link!
War on Pot-Growing 'a Failure'
Police have failed to reduce marijuana operations, study says
 
Kim Pemberton, with files from Brian Morton 
Vancouver Sun 
Friday, June 14, 2002
 
Police have devoted significant resources to battling illegal marijuana-growing operations in B.C., but have yet to produce visible results, says a study by researchers at the University College of the Fraser Valley.
"At best, it would seem, they have succeeded in some cases in producing a slight displacement of the problem from one area to another, or from one neighborhood to another," says the report, released Thursday.
Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=ABDD32D3-7B24-49D3-9845-997888A7049B
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 14, 2002 at 08:50:35 PT
Article from Montreal Gazette
Hi Everyone,
We can't post the Montreal Gazette articles so here is the link.
Pot Rules Are Rules: Crown
Medicinal-marijuana suppliers challenge drug-trafficking charges
 
Lynn Moore, Montreal Gazette 
Friday, June 14, 2002
Even if some people think recent federal regulations on the supply and distribution of medical marijuana aren't adequate, a lower-court judge can't decide to fix them by quashing charges against unauthorized pot distributors, a federal prosecutor argued in court yesterday.
But a judge could stay charges until the situation is resolved, the prosecutor told Justice Gilles Cadieux of Quebec Court during final arguments in the trial of two Compassion Club of Montreal volunteers.
Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=4D42E7C6-8B12-49C4-90F5-00A08C76BC48
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Comment #18 posted by StickyResins on June 14, 2002 at 08:31:32 PT
I see
Now i know why there has been so much "BC Bud" in my area. keep up the good work guys!!!
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Comment #17 posted by kaptinemo on June 14, 2002 at 07:22:37 PT:
"Mission creep"...Canadian style?
When I worked for Uncle, after the Berlin Wall fell I saw military and the Federal LEA people scrambling for a position at the possibly reduced Fed trough. They had to find a new 'mission' to justify denying the American people the so-called "Peace Dividend" that was expected to fill American wallets from having less taxes to pay to the military/industrial complex to 'protect' us from the now-defunct Soviets.So, we got a 'revitalized' - but still spectacularly failed - WoSD.Looks like the Canuck LEO's, drooling with envy at all the 'goodies' their American thieves-in-blue were having, want some too. Hence this manufactured infomercial for LEO's. Greed knows no national boundaries.
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Comment #16 posted by Lehder on June 13, 2002 at 19:48:23 PT
omitted reference
N. Mandelstam, Hope Against Hope
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Comment #15 posted by Lehder on June 13, 2002 at 19:47:24 PT
just what they wanted
Chief Const. Jim Cessford of the RCMP detachment in Delta said police have held
   community meetings to educate people on how to spot homes that may include grow-ops
   to try to control the problem. What can such a policy accomplish? We all know that it cannot reduce the demand for marijuana, and it cannot prevent that demand from being met. It may place a portion of production into stronger, craftier or more ruthless hands and it may increase profits for suppliers. Such policy cannot halt consumption or production - it cannot even "control the problem."The question is, doesn't Chief Constable Cessford know this too? After so many decades of failed drug-warring doesn't his boss know? Am I to believe that the entire RCMP is as naive? Do you believe for a moment that potheads like Al Gore and Bill Clinton don't know?The policy does accomplish these ends: It sets neighbor against neighbor, tests the bonds of friendship, turns acquaintances to spies and family to snitches. Borrowing the idiom of drug-war propagandists, such a policy "rips at the fabric of the nation." It attacks the social and familial relationships that form a society.The object of all this was not just to gather information....the more people could be implicated and compromised, the more traitors, informants and police spies there were, the greater would be the number of people supporting the regime and longing for it to last thousands of years....people lose their social instincts, the ties between them weaken, everybody retires to his corner and keeps his mouth shut - which is an invaluable boon to the authorities....The loss of mutual trust is the first sign of the atomization of society in dictatorships of our type, and this was just what our leaders wanted.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 13, 2002 at 15:53:18 PT
I'm Going To Call It Like I See It!
It's the MONEY Stupid!As long as there is money to be made by Cannabis being illegal nothing will change and it will only get worse!People need money to live and they will find a way to make money. If no one needed money that would make it different but everyone does. Why can't they use some common sense?
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Comment #13 posted by mayan on June 13, 2002 at 15:46:29 PT
Supply & Demand
You would think that the so-called "capitalists" would understand the simple law of supply & demand. If the people demand it there WILL be a supply. What's so hard to understand about that? The more they fight it, the more they grow........8 
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on June 13, 2002 at 15:25:48 PT
Look at the reader comments
for the article FoM gave the link for in comment #2.They appear unanimous for legalization.
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Comment #11 posted by Lehder on June 13, 2002 at 13:42:28 PT
HTML
Here's a cool html site that let's one practice the language in a special box that you can click to see the result as it would appear on a web page:http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/chap07.shtml-----------The more the police harass and shut down growers, the more violent and criminal
   they will become. Just have a look south of the border for comparison....... -- Sam AdamsBut I can't help thinking that US authorities have looked south of the border - the problems there are, after all, of their creation too - and that they want the same for the US and Canada: thirdworldization, violent lawless society, poverty, fear, atomization. Such societies are easy to rule, easy to exploit, but rough to live in.
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Comment #10 posted by Naaps on June 13, 2002 at 13:32:45 PT
Strictly Propaganda
The various RCMP green teams and drug squads, and the Organized Crime Agency of BC must be hungry for more money and power. It would be interesting to know how much Darryl Plecas was paid for his sycophantic propaganda research. Paid for by public funds, no doubt.For one thing, he should stifle comparing BC to Columbia. Our country isn’t divided and torn by 40 years of war. The murder rate in BC is less. We aren’t hosting crop eradication with Black Hawk Helicopters. But unwise trumpeting about the ‘supposed’ problem may well invite our southern neighbours to assist us. This is probably one of the unwritten goals of the report.Meanwhile, RCMP spokeswoman Const. Danielle Efford voices the idea that while it appears gardening operations are on the increase, but avoids going the extra step of hat in hand begging for more money and police. No doubt, this is part of the reassessment. I view this piece of propaganda as a means of softening the public for grabbing the money and cops these growing people control agencies lust.I don’t follow Plecas’ logic in stating the sentencing for growing aren’t severe enough. Cannabis is a plant, why should anyone be penalized for growing a plant? Further, the article points to the ‘sophisticated grow-op technology’ then juxtaposes it with the threat of violence in neighbourhoods. A few lights and timers, as Kaptinemo points out aren’t sophisticated. So how does some growing plants relate to violence?Plecas says police should take a more strategic approach instead of concentrating on the impact of other drugs such as cocaine. Hey, the Richmond RCMP have pulled their members from investigating heroin, to busting gardens. Meanwhile, testimony before the Senate Committee by Dr. Mark Tyndell pointed out that crack cocaine is the worst problem on the downtown eastside of Vancouver.The entire article lack balance, it was produced using taxpayer’s money, and has a focus of promoting the police agenda. There’s no contrary opinion. No, questioning whether people should have a right to cultivate or use plants. There’s no mention of the therapeutic value of the herb. The article is merely propaganda diatribe.    
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Comment #9 posted by Lehder on June 13, 2002 at 13:32:21 PT
Don't Blame it on Marijuana...
Plecas said there are few consequences for those whose grow-ops are busted because
   sentences are not severe enough or, in many cases, charges are dropped if the case took
   too long to get to court. Demand is high. People want marijuana. Not because they have a brain disease, but because they benefit from it.   That's an issue even when many grow-op suspects are seasoned criminals with an
   average of seven prior convictions, including those that involve drugs, he said. Why do you seek to concentrate resources in criminal hands? The money could be better spent, but once in the hands of those who have few scruples and no fear of police the negative consequences will be felt for decades. ....Blame it on PROHIBITION.   Police must consider a more strategic approach to dealing with the problem instead of
   concentrating on the impact of other drugs such as cocaine, Plecas said. Now you're getting warm - Chief Const. Jim Cessford of the RCMP detachment in Delta said police have held
   community meetings to educate people on how to spot homes that may include grow-ops
   to try to control the problem. But you just can't say it, can you: "RELEGALIZE"....the
   Vancouver suburb of Delta experienced a 1,293 per cent jump in the number of
   marijuana grow-ops during the four-year period. today's markets: DOW down 114, Toronto down 76. Idiots!
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Comment #8 posted by VitaminT on June 13, 2002 at 12:21:07 PT
Thank you
Think I got it now THANX!
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on June 13, 2002 at 12:12:14 PT
It's simple...
The more they crack down, the more the grow ops will be run by organized crime and gangs. The more the police harass and shut down growers, the more violent and criminal they will become.  Just have a look south of the border for comparison.......
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 13, 2002 at 12:05:17 PT
VitaminT
I know how to make bold print and use codes to space articles and make paragraphs but that's all. I think if you look at a web site that teaches html it would help. We can't post pictures for security reasons but maybe this might help.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/help.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by TroutMask on June 13, 2002 at 11:57:53 PT
Easy Solution
All you have to do is dump MO MONEY into the problem and oila, no more grow-ops, just like here in the drug-free US.(end sarcasm)-TM
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Comment #4 posted by VitaminT on June 13, 2002 at 11:56:21 PT
Hey FOM
got a little primer on html? I can't seem to make it work right.E_Johnson has it down pat.Thanx
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Comment #3 posted by VitaminT on June 13, 2002 at 11:51:47 PT
Regulate and Tax commercial grow ops!
People who run British Columbia's proliferating marijuana grow operations face little risk in the high-profit industry because police have no control of the situation reaching a crisis point, says a professor who headed the province's first comprehensive study of the problem. Problem? the only problem here is that the people of B.C. are deprived of a lot of tax revenue that should rightfully belong to them. Regulate and Tax commercial grow ops!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 13, 2002 at 11:50:12 PT
Related Article
I can't post articles from The Vancouver Sun but here's the link!http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=73E7CC71-C699-4460-B1A8-7029B576EC88
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on June 13, 2002 at 11:37:53 PT
So where is the crisis?
People who run British Columbia's proliferating marijuana grow operations face little risk in the high-profit industry because police have no control of the situation reaching a crisis point,Hmm why is this a crisis, and what defines this point of crisis?During that time, police seized 1.2 million plants and 8,646 kilograms of harvested marijuana, with an estimated value of between $462 million and $1.25 billion, the study said."The growth has been so great, so fast, that they've been unable to respond to the extent that they might have liked to," Plecas said.Oh I see, the crisis lives in the desire of the police. Their point of crisis is not being able to respond in the way they'd like.I've read of ways these drug police like to respond. Hold each other down and force their genitals on each other, grope each other drunkenly at parties with their skirts over their heads...The people who have witnessed these goings on felt they were at a point of crisis.They're a very responsive group, the drug police. It's just the types of things they respond to that make the rest of us worry.
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