Pubdate: Fri, 19 Oct 2001
Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Parksville Qualicum Beach News
Contact:  http://www.pqbnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361
Author:  Paul Willcocks

STRANGE VICTORIES IN DRUG WAR

It doesn't seem like much of a victory, pushing big-time marijuana grow ops 
out of the Lower Mainland and onto Vancouver Island.

Likewise the news that gangs are closing grow operations and opening up 
labs to make chemical drugs like Ecstasy doesn't seem particularly 
positive. And it's hard to celebrate more turf wars, violent rip-offs and 
home invasions within the drug world as a sign of progress.

But B.C.'s Organized Crime Agency reported this week that all three 
developments show that their efforts are working. The new agency says it 
has targeted Asian gangs and bikers - mostly the Hell's Angels - and taken 
particular aim at the huge marijuana industry.

How huge?

The crime agency says there are 15,000 to 20,000 grow operations in B.C. 
There are only about one million houses and apartment buildings. That means 
that anytime you can see up and down a long block, the statistics say 
you're looking at someone's marijuana business.

And the agency puts the value of the trade - the wholesale value - at $6 
billion. That's more than three times what we spent for alcohol last year, 
more than all the income taxes levied by the province and $1,500 for every 
person in B.C.

That suggests some realities.

The first is that criminal organizations are going to be attracted. That's 
a huge amount of money floating around an unregulated marketplace. The 
crime unit offers little evidence to debunk the belief that most grow 
operations are simply another form of small, illegal business, someone 
earning a modest living with some grow lights in a spare room. But the 
attraction for organized crime groups is obvious.

The second is that the marijuana industry is deeply entrenched in the 
economy and widely accepted. It's tough to have a $6-billion industry 
without public tolerance.

And the third is that this is probably a losing battle.

By the agency's count, at least one out of every $20 generated by the B.C. 
economy is being made in the marijuana industry. That's $6 billion a year 
that's being spent in communities. Yank that much money out of circulation 
and you give the economy a ferocious whack.

And while enforcement is having an effect, it doesn't appear to be having a 
lasting impact on crime. The agency has only charged 112 people since its 
inception, although it has been targeting key players.

And as the agency notes, much of the success has been in making it tougher 
for people to be in the marijuana business. They've moved out of Vancouver 
with grow operations, had to develop riskier transit routes to the U.S. and 
started fighting with each other more. And the organized gangs have 
switched from growing pot to manufacturing methamphetamine and Ecstasy.

That just doesn't seem like a victory.

It's fair to ask whether some enforcement efforts are actually making it 
tough on small-timers and increasing the opportunities for real criminal gangs.

It's not an easy problem. The agency is chaired by Doug Richardson, the 
highly respected former Victoria police chief. He says marijuana production 
is one part of a spectrum of activities that support organized crime.

And he says the agency, which gets about $9.8 million from the province and 
loaned officers from the RCMP, desperately needs more money if it's going 
to keep up with criminal activities. That will be a tough sell to Solicitor 
General Rich Coleman, who faces the same huge spending cuts as most other 
ministries.

Police need the organized crime agency, which can operate across 
jurisdictions, as criminal gangs do, and bring the same focus to fighting 
organized crime that serious criminals devote to expanding their activities.

The challenge is to come up with an approach that ensures that the focus is 
on stopping activities that pose the greatest threat to public safety, 
rather than simply changing the nature of crime in B.C..
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom