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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom