cannabisnews.com: High Times for Grow Ops Despite Busts





High Times for Grow Ops Despite Busts
Posted by CN Staff on November 26, 2002 at 18:14:04 PT
Global BC - Reporting by Marisa Taylor 
Source: Global BC
How many illegal marijuana grow operations would you estimate Vancouver police busted last week? Twenty? 30? Even 40? If you'll pardon the pun, the actual number is much higher. Last week -- in just a seven-day period -- officers uncovered more than 60 grow ops, part of a coordinated nationwide crackdown. The Vancouver raids were part of a massive operation targeting indoor marijuana cultivation.
Across the country, 73,000 marijuana plants valued at $73 million were seized, and 163 people arrested.It's the third wave of Operation Greensweep, and police were touting the results Tuesday. But even the officers involved in the initiative wonder if such crackdowns are worth it."We're finding that the vast majority of people convicted for marijuana grow ops are receiving conditional sentences," says Cst. Tim Shields."In addition they're receiving fines of anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000 on average. And in plain terms that equates to about three plants that it will take in order to cover that fine."Keep in mind this is coming from a home that may have contained 500 plants."So why do they keep up the pressure? Marijuana cultivation contributes to a wave of other crimes including "home invasions, burglaries, assaults, extortions, kidnappings, shootings and even murders," says Insp. Kash Heed of Vancouver Police.Police intelligence suggests that up to 85 per cent of the high-quality "B.C. bud" grown in these mostly suburban homes is going across the border.In fact, a University College of the Fraser Valley study suggests grow ops increased 220 per cent in the region between 1997 and 2000 -- helping to earn this area the nickname Colombia North.This proliferation has made marijuana another contentious cross-border issue with the United States. So for now, the crackdowns will continue. With the kinds of profits involved for the criminals, it seems clear that so, too, will the grow ops.Source: Global TV (Vancouver)Published: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 Copyright: 2002 BCTV News on Global, CanWest InteractiveContact: http://www.canada.com/aboutus/contactus/Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/globaltv/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPolice Target Home Marijuana Grows in Blitzhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12701.shtmlNationwide Drug Busts Weed Out $50M in Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11887.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 27, 2002 at 13:34:44 PT:
Mr. Farley
I once followed Mr. Farley in a Drug Policy Forum after he said that alcohol Prohibition was good for public health. My understanding was that people drank more, got shot on the street by bootleggers, and were subject to blindness or death from bad booze.And they call some of us out of step!BTW, the audience laughed at many more of my jokes.
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Comment #7 posted by CorvallisEric on November 27, 2002 at 13:29:27 PT
Naaps' linked article is really wild
The link didn't work but found it by searching, maybe this will work:http://www.pacpub.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5967394&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=346950&rfi=8The smugglers, Mr. Farley said, don't have any problems smuggling the illegal crops over the border; it's getting the tractor trailers loaded with $20, $50 and $100 bills back across the border into Canada that's the problem. ...
B.C. Bud can get $11,000 per pound," he said.For those who don't mind 4 different sizes and colors of all-bold type, you can enjoy Richard Cowan's comments (no offense intended toward his content, I just find his formatting painful to read):
http://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=592
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Comment #6 posted by mayan on November 27, 2002 at 07:51:31 PT
In On The Action
I think you're probably right, p4me. The U.S. & Canadian governments are obviously making more money by keeping cannabis illegal than they would if it were legal. They must realize that they could make butt-loads of money if they were to legalize, regulate & tax it. How could they make more money by keeping it illegal? Inflate the price & then get in on the action! We know about the CIA and the "Contra-cocaine". Is it so far fetched? I think not.Dealing in Death: The CIA & the Drugs Trade - How the Agency Created America's Heroin and Cocaine Epidemics
http://www.wakeupmag.co.uk/articles/ciadrugsconclusion.htmFreedom vs. Tyranny -Global Eye - Rough Beast:
http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=359Resistance Rising!True Patriots Networking:
http://villagevoice.com/issues/0248/hentoff.phpPatriot Radio on the Internet:
http://www.criminalgovernment.com/patrad.html9/11 "Conspiracies" and the Defactualisation of Analysis:
http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq37.html9/11 Skeptics Unite:
http://www.osamaskidneys.com/links.htmlPaul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline:
http://cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/The People's Investigation of 9/11:
http://www.911pi.com/
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Comment #5 posted by Naaps on November 26, 2002 at 23:18:01 PT
Check Out This Article
The horror...The truth according to Terrence P. Farley, director of the Ocean County Narcotics Strike Force.
Computers help teens get drugs
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Comment #4 posted by Naaps on November 26, 2002 at 22:55:36 PT
Third Wave of Operation Greensweep
Will they still be keeping track after a dozen more sweeps still leave the trade intact?Canada spends $350-$500 Million to prop up the price of an agricultural commodity to near its weight in gold. Marijuana’s high value with limited risk ensures that for every bust another clandestine farm will replace it. The dangers Inspector Heed mentions are exactly as The Circle points out – due to the prohibition. Take the money out of the equation by making cannabis ubiquitous to mollify the criminal activity.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 26, 2002 at 22:19:06 PT
Article from Snipped Source
Say Cheese, It's The Heat: Cops Get Help from Thermal Camera 
By David Redwood, The Daily News Source: Daily News, The (CN NS)Police work got white-hot this week as 40 Nova Scotia cops got a lesson in how to take a crook’s temperature.One of North America’s experts at using thermal imaging technology was in Halifax this week teaching how white, glowing images on a TV screen can help find bodies, fugitives, stolen goods, drugs, and even invisible skid marks.“The whiter the hotter,” said Charlie Stowell, who was the first law enforcement agent to get criminal conviction thanks to a thermographic camera.Now retired, Stowell spent 31 years as a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officer. His pioneer bust in 1989 of a marijuana grow operation opened the door to the technology’s widespread use.It all hinges on a $19,000 hand-held thermographic camera. It looks like an oversized camcorder, but the “lens” is actually made of metal instead of glass. The metal picks up heat levels on surfaces up to 400 metres away. Some fancier models developed for helicopters can create thermographic images at a range of three kilometres.“Literally, these turn night into day,” said Stowell yesterday.Snipped: http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/story.asp?id=%7B2E15F7FE-6EC2-4ED2-B02F-D49E1382C16C%7D
Canadian Links
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Comment #2 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on November 26, 2002 at 20:38:53 PT
Must've been a typo, right?
"So why do they keep up the pressure? Marijuana cultivation contributes to a wave of other crimes including 'home invasions, burglaries, assaults, extortions, kidnappings, shootings and even murders,' says Insp. Kash Heed of Vancouver Police."Excuse me, but I'm sure they meant to say "Marijuana prohibition contributes to a wave of other crimes..."
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on November 26, 2002 at 19:07:38 PT
Does Canada have jury nullification?
My line of thinking says that this effort is just to keep the price of marijuana up for the CIA approved growers and distributors. They know they cannot stop an incoming tide but they sure as heck want the price to stay up.There is going to come a time when the juries will legalize cannabis if the government does not act with any more sense as in the past.1
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