Pubdate: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2005 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Tom Blackwell, CanWest News Service Cited: New York Times article "Violent New Front in Drug War Opens on the Canadian Border" http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n360/a04.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rochfort+Bridge (Rochfort Bridge) POLICY ON POT IRRITATING U.S. Fear Flood of Drugs; Murder of Mounties Underlines Concern The murder of four RCMP officers in Alberta last week may or may not end up having much to do with the marijuana grow operation the killer maintained. But the incident has still managed to generate fresh irritation and fear south of the border over the growing flood of potent Canadian pot into the United States. As if the two countries needed another irritant, the murders have only underlined concern among officials and politicians in Washington 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 border 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. The problem is especially bad in British Columbia, which is showing early signs of becoming a "narco-province" along the lines of some South American countries, charged Representative Mark Soude of Indiana, chairperson of the congressional sub-committee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources. "In British Columbia, one of the things they seem to be in a state of denial about is that they have become a huge exporter of this really lethal form of marijuana," he said in an interview. "It's close to getting out of hand. ... I feel sorry if four police officers died because of the mistakes of politicians." He acknowledged the pot is being traded for cocaine and guns from the United States, but said the marijuana business is fuelling that exchange. Just a day after the killings in Mayerthorpe, Alta., the State Department coincidentally made public its annual report on the illegal drug business around the world. It concluded Thailand is no longer a major drug-producing country, praised Haiti for the anti-narcotics strides it has made - and warned 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 anymore," 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 U.S. police pursue crime aggressively and almost competitively, they perceive Canadian law enforcement as more reactive, or at least hampered by a lack of resources, Sands said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake