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"If you grow it, we will come."

Det.-Sgt. Ian Calder, Peel Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit

January 31, 2002     A modern day tale of a medieval inquisition. In quasi-military fashion, 500 law enforcement officers recently swooped in on unsuspecting Canadians nation-wide for cultivating cannabis in the privacy of homes. This can partly be attributed to the increasing pressure from the U.S. to adopt their repressive drug policies, and in some cases, as shown here, even the same name of an ill-fated American maneuver, Operation Green Sweep. Another obvious factor for police forces to keep prohibition and their strong-arm tactics alive is the vested interest that this news source points out: Jan. 24, 2002 EDITORIAL No arguments against more funding for York Regional Police York Regional Police Chief Bob Middaugh didn't have much of a fight for dollars at the regional budget table this year. The police budget, which amounts to more than $103 million this year, focuses on today's hot button issues in recognizing we want protection from threats once considered outside the realm of probability -- from terrorists on the other side of the world to organized crime infiltrating our neighbourhoods to grow marijuana in hydroponic labs and carjack SUVs. Regional politicians nodded their heads in agreement and allocated the cash. The budget is up 10.4 per cent over last year's total of $93.6 million, representing the largest single departmental increase in the region's $1.2-billion budget. York Regional News They justified their actions by stating that most grow-ops are gang-related and "a message" must be sent to the public about the dangers of grow houses. Most cannabis cultivation is NOT gang-related and there is no reason the message can not be sent the same way most messages from the government are sent; in televised advertising, brochures, website info, warning labels or something in either official language? What happened to the message Canadians have been trying to send the government since the 1973 LeDain Commission? What did it cost to arrest 136 citizens involved in a consenual "crime" at a time when basic services everywhere are being cut for reasons that have come under fire in the public eye? How do you count the cost of emotional trauma experienced by the recipients of the raids and those around them ? Rather than subjecting another 136 people and 28 children to hardship and suffering, why couldn't we instead use the money for Operation "We Care" where 500 health and social workers were engaged for the same length of time to aid 136 families generally and 28 specific children ? Then money that will now be spent on subsequent lawyers, court costs, judges, prisons, probation officers, etc, could be allocated to the infrastructure dedicated to providing basic needs, goods, services and housing to society's most disadvantaged when it is needed more than ever. Why isn't the media asking these questions? Canada: Raids On Grow Houses Span Country  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN NS: Police Seize Marijuana Plants In Dartmouth  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Five Drug Labs Busted In Raids  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Cops Calling Homegrown Marijuana 'Epidemic'  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Halton Cops Seize 2,004 Pot Plants  Fri, 01 Feb 200299 CN ON: 'Green Sweep' Snares Three Oakville Grow Houses   Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Marijuana Worth $17M Seized  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN ON: London Joins National Drug Bust  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN ON: Huge Pot Raids Net $50m  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN ON: Six Homes Raided In $1.3m Drug Sweep  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN ON: Cops Go For The Green  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN ON: Raids Put Dent In Budding Crime  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN MB: Pot Busts Shut Down Three City Grow Operations  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN AB: $50 Million In Weed Confiscated  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN AB: Nationwide Drug Busts Weed Out $50M In Pot  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN AB: Nationwide Raids Net $50M In Pot  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN BC: Pot Busted  Fri, 01 Feb 200248 CN BC: Relatively Routine  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN BC: Country-wide Raids Net 40 BC Grow-Ops  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 CN BC: Sweep Nets 20 Marijuana-Growing Operations  Thu, 31 Jan 2002 Opinions available through Media Awarenesss Project: CN ON: Editorial: Here's A Home-grown Solution To Pot Houses  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Mayor Calls For Tough Jail Sentences For Growers  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 CN ON: Editorial: Smoking Out Criminals  Fri, 01 Feb 2002 The public, scientists, and journalists are becoming alarmed about the emerging structure of mainstream media and the way information is handled. The ongoing situation.... "Whereas our communities are experiencing an unprecedented increase in the illegal cultivation and distribution of marijuana (commonly referred to as grow operations) and there is now broad public awareness that such criminal activity is a threat to the safety and to the well being of people of our community..." "Therefore be it resolved that the Canadian Association of Police Boards believes these grow operations pose a serious threat to our communities and recommends that legislative changes be made to ensure effective deterrents are in place, not only in the form of incarceration, but also in the form of substantial financial penalties." Resolution put forward by the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board to the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Police Boards, July 2002 Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) 2002 SPECIAL REPORT - Operations GREENSWEEP I & II Alternative police sources: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

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