Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2004, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Randy Lahey Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor, headline by newshawk A FANTASTIC WASTE OF MONEY RE "Tide is high on prevention," (Jan. 29): My only "grave concern" is that the province and police cannot find better ways to enforce public safety than raiding grow ops. The only reason we have seen such a rise in busts is because politicians and police are wasting more time and effort on grow ops than confronting the real problems in our fair city. A budget shortfall and increasing violence are far more tangible statistics. I can only wonder if the police themselves were stoned in 2000, busting only two ops for half a million dollars. Are there more grow ops in just three years, or are the police just spending more time on it? This summit is nothing more than a fantastic waste of money in our deficit-ridden times. Randy Lahey (Are there more grow ops? We think the answer must be "yes") - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman