Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2005
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2005, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Jeff Gray
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POT RAIDS DRAINING RESOURCES, POLICE SAY

Toronto Police say they are taking down more marijuana grow 
operations this year than ever before, but Chief Bill Blair warns 
that the exploding number of pot busts is draining resources.

"I don't think we are satisfactorily on top of it," Chief Blair said 
yesterday after a Police Services Board meeting. "We know that it's a 
problem that continues to grow."

According to a report presented to the board yesterday, police broke 
up 169 grow operations this year as of June 1. The tally represents 
an 18-per-cent increase over the same period in 2004.

Earlier this year, former chief Julian Fantino had requested funding 
for a multimillion-dollar grow-op task force.

The plan included a shopping list for high-tech equipment, such as an 
additional $40,000 infrared device to detect the excessive heat 
grow-ops give off.

But that plan went nowhere, given the city's financial constraints. 
Instead, the police went ahead with a 15-member ad-hoc marijuana 
squad -- called Project Growstop -- using drug squad investigators 
and police from the divisions in suburban northern Scarborough, North 
York and Etobicoke, and existing staff and equipment.

And while they have had some success, it has come at a cost. Arrests 
for other drug offences have plummeted, sinking 77 per cent in the 
city's east end and 20 per cent in the west end because drug squad 
officers were reassigned to the grow-op squad, the police report says.

Chief Blair said he is in talks with federal and provincial officials 
about how to combat the problem.
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