Pubdate: Fri, 03 Nov 2006
Source: Prince George Free Press (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.pgfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2135
Author: Arthur Williams

TIME TO GET TOUGH ON GROW-OPS

Want to earn good money working out of your own home? You could 
become part of the exciting 'growth' industry of marijuana cultivation.

No experience or training is required, just add fertilizer and heat 
lamps and watch your profits grow!

Criminal record? No problem!

You'll be working with your fellow repeat offenders in the exciting 
world of organized crime.

All your profits are undeclared and tax-free, so you can even collect 
welfare while you work.

You can start with as few or as many plants as you want - grow weed 
in your spare time to supplement your income. Ideal for stay-at-home parents.

Worried about being arrested? Don't be.

Current sentences for marijuana growers rarely include jail time, so 
you can be back growing pot in no time.

Call now for your free information brochure, and as part of a limited 
time offer, we'll include a packet of seeds at no cost to you!

The lenient sentencing of grow-op owners in B.C. may as well be an 
advertisement for organized crime.

In a recent ruling, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sherman Hood said 
slap-on-the-wrist sentences have made marijuana grow-ops a lucrative, 
low-risk criminal industry.

Hood called the situation a crisis which can only be solved by 
increasing sentences to include serious jail time.

Hood was ruling in the case of Port Alberni pot grower Edmond Ross 
Readhead who was caught with 59 marijuana plants in his home.

It was Readhead's fourth drug-related conviction.

Readhead will serve two-and-a-half years for his misdeeds and will be 
eligible for parole in less than a year-and-a-half.

But what's the problem?

It's just a little bit of weed, right? No harm done.

Wrong.

I'll admit I went to college and it would be hypocritical of me not 
to say that I've tried it.

But new varieties of marijuana being sold today have much higher 
levels of THC, the chemical which gives marijuana users their high.

In addition, there are proven cases of drug dealers lacing marijuana 
with methamphetamine - a cheap, dangerous and highly-addictive drug - 
to increase the potency of their product.

It that's not enough, organized crime groups like the Renegades and 
the Hells Angels are raking in huge profits from the sale of weed - 
money they can reinvest in other criminal activities like selling 
hard drugs, running guns and prostitution.

If your cell phone, credit card, car or bicycle has been stolen 
recently, odds are it was used to finance some junkie's drug habit.

Currently judges' hands are tied by existing laws and legal precedent.

It's time for the lawmakers in Ottawa to get serious about combatting 
organized crime and give judges like Justice Hood the laws to put 
marijuana growers and their bosses behind bars.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine