Pubdate: Tue, 08 Mar 2005
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Tom Blackwell, National Post
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n360/a04.html?16395
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rochfort+Bridge (Rochfort Bridge)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

KILLINGS PUSHED BUTTONS IN U.S.

Murders Of Alberta Officers Underline American Fears

WASHINGTON -- The murder of four RCMP officers in Alberta last week may or 
may not end up having much to do with the marijuana growing operation the 
killer maintained. But the incident has still managed to generate fresh 
irritation and fear in America over the growing flood of potent Canadian 
pot into the U.S.

As if the two countries needed another irritant, the murders have only 
underlined concern among officials and politicians here that Canada's 
relatively lax treatment of grow-op criminals is fuelling the influx of drugs.

There are calls for more agents at the northern frontier, and parallels 
drawn between Canada and what has traditionally been considered a much more 
lawless neighbour -- Mexico. The fears were embodied in the headline for a 
recent front-page New York Times article: Violent New Front in Drug War 
opens on the Canadian Border.

Just a day after the killings in Mayerthorpe, Alta., the State Department 
coincidentally released its annual report on the illegal drug business 
around the world.

It concluded that Thailand is no longer a major drug-producing country, 
praised Haiti for the anti-narcotics strides it has made -- and warned that 
lack of judicial sanctions is leading to a "burgeoning" marijuana sector in 
Canada, managed by organized crime.

"We've tended to view Canada as our front door. And we've certainly come to 
the point where we don't feel that we can leave the front door unlocked any 
more," said Chris Sands, an expert on Canada at the Centre for Strategic 
and International Studies in Washington.

"Stories like the one about the officers being murdered and increasing 
violence associated with this trade are going to only make the Americans 
think what we usually think about these things -- that we're right and 
maybe you'll finally realize it."

He called the issue another example of the culture clashes that have been 
erupting between the two nations as their trading relationship draws ever 
closer, he said. While American police pursue crime aggressively and almost 
competitively, they perceive Canadian law enforcement as more reactive, or 
at least hampered by a lack of resources, said Sands.

The Canadian approach to drug enforcement is seen as similar to its more 
lenient handling of immigration and the terrorism threat, he said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has taken the Canadian 
marijuana exports very seriously for some time; now it hopes the message 
will sink in elsewhere, too, spokesman Marc Raimondi said Monday.

"We do sympathize and mourn the loss of our fellow law-enforcement 
counterparts up there. But I think that if anything comes out of this, it 
is the fact that growing and smuggling of marijuana is not a minor offence, 
it is not a victimless offence. Look at this," he said.

"We should hope that all law enforcement and all governments would take 
drug laws very seriously."

Starting with the development of the legendary B.C. bud in British 
Columbia, the number of marijuana grow operations has exploded in the last 
decade. Much of that product has flowed across the border into the United 
States, a fact highlighted in last week's State Department report on world 
narcotics trends.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington state is among the politicians who have 
called for more policing of the northern border. "Washington state is being 
ravaged by the influx of B.C. bud and meth," she said last fall.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom