Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Kim Pemberton, with files from Brian Morton Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) WAR ON POT-GROWING 'A FAILURE' Police Have Failed To Reduce Marijuana Operations, Study Says 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. The project, described as the first comprehensive study of the justice system's response to marijuana-growing operations and marijuana trafficking in B.C., involved a review of all cases of alleged marijuana cultivation coming to police attention between Jan. 1, 1997 and Dec. 31, 2000. The study found B.C.'s illicit marijuana-growing operations jumped 222 per cent between 1997 and 2000. "If our objective so far was to reduce the availability of marijuana in the province, we are not succeeding," said UCFV professor Yvon Dandurand. "In spite of the fact that we are devoting more law enforcement and other resources each year to address the problem, there is more marijuana grown and available in British Columbia from year to year. "It is perhaps time to try a different response." Vancouver police Inspector Kash Heed agreed there has been an increase in marijuana growing operationss in B.C., but he noted that since 2000, police have been targeting the problem much more aggressively. He said they have been "highly successful" in removing growing operations from the city. "In Vancouver we investigated 23 grow-ops in 1991, resulting in 36 charges. In 2001, we investigated 609 grow-ops, resulting in 375 charges, with a value of $150 million," he said. "The reports we're getting is the number of grow-ops in Vancouver have decreased. . . . Given our economical division of labour, we've had a lot of success." The study lists the 10 top communities that accounted for 60 per cent of all cases that came to the attention of police in 2000. On average, each community dealt with 290 cases and all had experienced "huge increases" in the number of cases since 1997 -- on average more than four times what it was in 1996. In total, there were 2,901 cases investigated in B.C. in 2000. Vancouver had the largest number of cases, with 663 growing operations investigated in 2000, while Delta and Coquitlam experienced the most dramatic increases between 1997 and 2000. Delta had 209 cases in 2000, up 1,293 per cent from 1997 and Coquitlam had 353 cases, up 700 per cent from the previous four years. The seven other top marijuana growing communities are Burnaby with 454 cases in 2000; Surrey with 317 cases: Nanaimo with 199 cases; Richmond with 188 cases; Abbotsford with 181; Chilliwack with 177 and Langley with 160. The study found that as illicit marijuana growing operations become larger and more sophisticated in B.C., the risks to communities also increase because of the potential for fires. "Indoor marijuana operations were sometimes discovered because the property involved had caught on fire, usually as a result of tampering with the building's electrical installations to bypass the B.C. Hydro meter and divert electricity," states the report. It found that during the period of the study, 3.5 per cent of all indoor cultivation operations resulted in a building fire. As well, another 2.1 per cent of buildings where marijuana growing operations were discovered had other dangers, such as explosives, dangerous chemical products and even booby traps. "The evidence indicates that, over the period studied, marijuana grow operations became larger and increasingly sophisticated, often involving greater technological enhancements. This, in turn, has led to greater risks to the communities in which these illicit operations took place due to the increased risk of fire," the report states. The study was conducted by faculty and students in the department of criminology and criminal justice of the University College of the Fraser Valley in partnership with the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel