Pubdate: Thu, 29 Nov 2001
Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225

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.
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MAP posted-by: Rebel