Pubdate: Sat, 12 Mar 2005
Source: Tri-City News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005, Tri-City News
Contact:  http://www.tricitynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1239
Author: Janis Cleugh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

COQUITLAM POPULAR FOR POT FARMERS, SAYS STUDY

Coquitlam remains one of the busiest cities in B.C. for pot farmers, 
according to a report released yesterday by the University College of the 
Fraser Valley (UCFV).

But a top provincial drug-enforcement officer said that dubious distinction 
is likely to change with introduction last fall of the RCMP Marijuana 
Enforcement Team (MET).

"What we're finding is that jurisdictions with green teams, the numbers 
slow down or turn around, and I believe Coquitlam's going to see their 
numbers turn around, too," said Insp. Paul Nadeau, who heads up B.C.'s 
Co-ordinated Drug Enforcement Team.

Delta, Nanaimo and Abbotsford dropped off the UCFV's Top 10 list for cities 
with large volumes of pot farms because of increased policing, the report 
states. They were replaced on the list by Kelowna, Prince George and Pitt 
Meadows/Maple Ridge.

The UCFV report, which was funded by the RCMP, shows Coquitlam, Kelowna and 
Prince George had 500% increases in pot cases over a seven-year period 
(Coquitlam's case load for grow ops rose 624%). And 15% of the pot homes 
had hazards, such as weapons, booby traps, explosives, chemical products 
and other drugs.

(Thursday, Coquitlam's MET seized 1,200 pot plants from a Spar Drive home 
that had its front door barricaded and was loaded with electrical booby traps.)

Nadeau said pot growers tend to produce in areas where they're less likely 
to be charged and where they can grow mass quantities of marijuana, like in 
the suburbs.

But Darryl Plecas, the lead researcher for the report, called Marijuana 
Growing Operations in British Columbia, Revisited, said growers are moving 
to more rural areas and Vancouver Island, where there's plenty of room and 
they won't be bothered.

Still, Nadeau said, the value of the home carries a great deal of weight 
when pot producers are setting up shop. Since Coquitlam's MET formed last 
September, dozens of expensive homes on Westwood Plateau have been found to 
have marijuana grow ops. "Last summer, when the market was hot, growers 
were getting busted and selling their homes - even disclosing that they 
used it for a grow - and were making money from selling their house," 
Nadeau said. "It's a win-win for them to make money."

But few growers are getting busted. The report states 1,185 suspects were 
charged in 1997 versus 798 in 2003, "and the problem is three times as big 
now," Nadeau said.

He suspects police in some jurisdictions are not spending the investigation 
time to recommend charges to Crown counsel. "It becomes like a janitorial 
exercise for them," he said. "You're just cleaning up the problem and not 
necessarily charging suspects. That can happen when you're just drowning in 
the numbers [of grow ops]."

Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Jane Baptista said the green team makes it a practice 
to arrest as many suspects as possible connected to grow-ops, and to seize 
their assets. "We are making it as hard as we can for them [to do business] 
in our city," Baptista said.

But if the charges stick, the judges aren't taking the cases seriously in 
court.

In 2003, 41% of convicted growers received a conditional sentence and 49% 
got a fine averaging $1,591, the report states. Only 10% got a prison 
sentence averaging 7.5 months. In Washington State, 49% of convicted 
growers are sentenced to five years behind bars. In B.C., no one in the 
past seven years got a five-year jail term.

"The consequences for involvement in a grow operation in British Columbia, 
even where a person receives a prison sentence, are likely insufficient to 
reduce or prevent participation in marijuana grow operations," the UCFV 
report states.

Nadeau said his agency is sending the UCFV report to B.C. judges and 
offering them a chance to meet with Plecas and his research team to discuss 
the problem.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom