Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jan 2002
Source: Cambridge Reporter, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 The Cambridge Reporter
Contact:  http://www.cambridge-reporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1470
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

LITTLE COURT SUPPORT

When Minh Hai Tai's illegal marijuana-growing operation re-sulted in his 
Hespeler home burning to the ground, it should have signalled a big police 
crackdown on the unwelcome growth of these "home grow" enterprises.

Instead, a year later, it's business as usual, with police estimating - 
probably on the conservative side - that at least 200 basement pot farmers 
are probably thriving in the region. Regional police have busted 60 such 
operations in the past year, but growers continue to thrive because little 
more than a hand slap awaits them in court.

Tai was accused of illegally tapping his neighbourhood's hydro lines to 
power his operation, the likely cause of the fire, which threatened the 
safety of his neighbourhood and the security of the police and firefighters 
who investigated it.

Police didn't provide an estimate of the street value of the pot Tai was 
growing, but a typical basement full of plants fetches upwards in the 
hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Convicted of trafficking and cultivating a controlled substance, Tai left 
the courtroom virtually a free man - sentenced to 20 months of house 
arrest, community service, and fines and restitution totalling $4,300.

This is the crux of the problem police have dealing with such growers: the 
law just isn't punishing the offenders.

It's telling that of the 60 cases so far brought before the local courts, 
little or nothing has been said about the people who employ men like Tai to 
grow the weed. Faced with the prospect of house arrest versus the ignominy 
of becoming a stoolie, Tai and others have been singing like clams, which 
is, sharing little except the obvious.

While police need to continue busting the pot houses, they know the real 
enemy isn't the growers but the buyers, the organized criminals who are 
beckoning the Tais with promises of quick riches at little risk. Those 
villains will continue to elude justice as long as the courts continue to 
treat home growers like jay walkers.

Recognizing that, Cambridge council in December voted to ask that the 
federal government ensure stiffer such sentences in the future.

The government has yet to respond. Bt whether the legalization of pot is 
being considered or not, Ottawa has to recognize that the proliferation of 
home grows poses a threat to communities that can only be stopped with 
tough, serious sentencing.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager