Christian Science Monitor Article Parssed....My comments embedded in CAPS
Mood: Actually happy since my dad phoned
Author:
Roger M Roeder
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Date Posted: 22:44:39 03/10/05 Thu
In reply to: 902 words support persecution 66 for reform 's message, "Marijuana Industry Booming in Canada" on 21:15:10 03/10/05 Thu
Susan Bourette Christian Science Monitor March 11, 2005 ROG:RELIGION HAD TO COME INTO THIS SOMEHOW. PLSE EXPLAIN HOW THE BIBLE ALLOWS YOU TO USE ASPIRIN OR TYLENOL #1'S WITH CODIENE AND REMEMBER BOTH ARE LAB CREATED.....BUT NOT THE HERB CANNABIS. ITS JUST A PICKED FLOWER THEN DRIED.
Marijuana Industry Booming in Canada ROG:YES, AND JUST WAIT TILL MORE PEOPLE FIND OUT HOW IT IS LEGAL NOW.
Toronto -- On the street it's called Northern Lights ROG; NO ITS NOT AS NORTHERN LIGHTS IS A SPECIFIC STRAIN OUT OF APPROX 300 STRAINS, Ontario Hydro ROG:A SLANG TERM NEVER HEARD, and B.C. bud ROG: NOT A STRAIN BUT JUST A PLACE WHERE ANY OF THE OVER 300 STRAINS IS GROWN. It's one of Canada's biggest agricultural exports - a potent form of marijuana cultivated in sprawling "grow houses ROG: WHAT ABOUT MA AND PA KETTLE," worth an estimated US$4 billion to $7 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled into the US.ROG: NO MOST IS SOLD NATIONALLY AS BORDER CROSSING IS TO RISKY FOR MOST WITH BC BEING THE EXCEPTION OF ALL PROVINCES.
Once hidden in farming communities and well-heeled suburbs, grow operations - indoor nurseries with high-tech lightingROG; WHATS HIGH TECH ABOUT A HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM BULB THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES and temperature controls ROG; A SIMPLE THERMOSTAT ONLY IF REQUIRED - have been thrust into the national spotlight ROG; BY IGNORANCE. Thursday Canada buried four young Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were killed during a bust ROG: RETRIEVAL OF A TRUCK WITH MISSED PAYMENTS in rural Alberta March 3.
The Alberta grow house ROG: IT WAS A HUT NOT A HOUSE was just one of thousands across Canada. Here in Ontario, police say indoor pot operations have risen 250 percent in the past four years ROG: HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS AS IT IS ONLY A GUESS TO INSTILL FEAR. And Vancouver is home to some 7,000 "grow ops"ROG: IS YOUR TOMATO PATCH CALLED A GROW OP at any time, police say ROG: BC ITS LUMBER OR CANNABIS AS A MATTER OF FACT.
The tragedy - the deadliest incident for Canada's national police force in 120 years ROG: PRAY - has ignited debate as Canadians begin to question whether liberal attitudes toward marijuana and lenient laws enacted over the past two decades have contributed to the drug boom.ROG: ONLY TO UNINFORMED PEOPLE HELD IN FEAR BY POLICE PSYCHOLOGICAL TERMS AND PHRASES
"It's really got people talking about the problem," says Marc Pinault, staff sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service's drug unit. "It's pretty clear that we produce a pile of potROG: WE ONLY SUPPLY 3 PERCENT OF THE STATES CANNABIS ACCORDING TO CANADA AND CUSTOMS AGENCY, and it's really good stuff ROG: OF COURSE MA AND PA'S IS. I don't know that that's something we should be really proud of."ROG: CREATING A BEAUTIFULL COLOURFULL FLOWER...
Drugs Moving East
British Columbia has long been the hub of sophisticated, high-tech nurseries ROG: IF YOU THINK GROWING HERBS IN POTS UNDER LIGHTS WITH VENTILATION IS HIGH TECH I WOULD HATE TO SEE LOW TECH capable of producing pot with nearly 30 times the kick ROG: IN THE 60'S THC WAS 3-4% NOW ITS 15-20 PERCENT SO ITS 5 TO 6 TIMES GREATER LIAR of what was found on the street a decade ago, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency ROG: FROM THE DEA SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. Sergeant Pinault says the increasing numbers of massive growing operations - once largely the preserve of Asian gangs and bikers on the West Coast - indicate the problem is moving East into provinces like Ontario and Quebec.ROG: AH NOT UNLESS THE GANGS ARE RECRUITING LIKE CRAZY FROM PEOPLE WHO CANNOT MAKE A SIMPLE LIVING ON 10-12 BUCKS AN HOUR
Tom Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and a member of the Canadian Professional Police Association, says criminals across the country are modeling their operations after those found in and around Vancouver.ROG: MY GRANDMOTHER CALLS IT A COOKIE CUTTER, THE DON WOULD CALL IT GOOD BUSINESS SENSE AND YOUR HIRED.
For example, he says, grow houses are increasingly found in upscale areas of the city as criminals ply their trade behind picket fences and a facade of respectability ROG: THERE IS NOTHING DISRESPECTFULL ABOUT AN HERB GARDEN. Inside, they're a hotbed of danger - rigged with booby traps to ward off intruders and noxious chemical compounds ROG: YEA MIRICLE GROW IS REALLY REALLY BAD, YEA RIGHT BETTER DUMP THOSE TOMATOS that pose serious health threats.ROG: SO HE JUST SAID "ALL" HAVE BOOBY TRAPS...LIR..ALL HAVE NOXIOUS CHEMICALS...LIAR...ALL POSE SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS...LIAR.
But those aren't the only perils ROG: MORE FEAR COMMING. DEA special agent Rodney Benson of Seattle says recent busts have also netted a pile of automatic weapons ROG: ALL PISTOLS ARE CONSIDERED "AUTOMATIC", ONLY MACHINE GUNS ARE AUTOMATIC AS RIFLES GO and explosive devices ROG: ARE THEY IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES OR VERY DAMAGEING NON EXPLOSIVE DEVICES AND WHERE WAS THE EXPLOSIVES RIPPED FROM AS IT DID NOT MAKE ANY NEWS THAT I HAVE WATCHED...EVER.
"We're definitely seeing more violence," explains Mr. Benson, who recently oversaw a year long, cross- border sting called Operation Hockey Bag, in which investigators charged 22 people and seized more than 400 lbs. of marijuana, along with $3.4 million and a dozen firearms. "It's not just weapons - it's what we're seeing from the organization. They rule and intimidate from within."ROG: LET ME SEE, ONE YEAR EQUALS 22 PEOPLE BUSTED BUT TELL US HOW MANY COPS AND WHAT WAS THEIR OPERATING BUDGET.
RCMP investigators are still sifting through the evidence, trying to find out what led to the killing of the four officers last week. The incident began as an attempt to repossess a pickup truck but ballooned into a larger investigation after the marijuana growing operation was discovered. The gunman, Jim Roszko, killed the officers and later turned a high-powered, semiautomatic weapon on himself.ROG: SO FAR THE ONLY TRUE PARAGRAPH IN THIS OPINION PIECE.
Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence ROG: YUP - and they hope to keep it that way. Many, like Mr. Stamatakis of Vancouver, say that Canadian lawmakers are too lenient in meting out penalties for those involved in growing operations contributing to the drug explosion. ROG; DOES HE MEAN GROW OP AS IN POPPIES AND DRUG EXPLOSION AS IN COCAINE OR DOES HE MEAN HERBAL GARDENS AND THE SELLING OF DRIED FLOWERS. HE HAS ONLY AN OPINION TO OFFER BUT NO FACTS
"When even the outgoing prime minister [Jean Chrétien] makes a flippant comment like, 'What's the big deal about marijuana? I've probably had a few puffs myself.' That sends the wrong message to the community and the courts," Stamatakis says. ROG: CHRETIAN DID NOT SAY THAT, HE SAID HE MIGHT TRY A FEW PUFFS AND IT SENDS THE CORRECT MESSAGE THAT THIS IS ONLY AN HERBAL FLOWER PICKED AND BAKED WITH OR MADE INTO A TEA FOR PA'S ARTHRITIS OR VAPOURIZED OR SMOKED
Softer Laws for Using, Harder for Selling ROG: THAT WILL BUMP UP THE OLE PROFIT MARGIN NICELY EH. BUT THE GOVERNMENT THINKS IT WILL DETER GARDENERS WHICH WILL DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF CANNABIS HITTING THE STREET THEREFORE FEWER PEOPLE PARTAKING AT THE COTTAGE ON A NICE WARM AFTERNOON WHILE THE NEXT COTTAGE OVER BUDDY IS PUKING ALL OVER THE PLACE FROM BEER.
There has been a major push to decriminalize ROG: IRWIN COTLER ALREADY ADMITTED THAT DECRIMINALIZE IS THE WRONG CHOICE OF WORD AS ONE CAN STILL GET A CRIMINAL RECORD marijuana across the country in recent years. Canada was the first country to regulate its medicinal use ROG THROUGH THE COMMON SENSE OF SICK PEOPLE AND THE COURTS, in 1999. However, while the government has recently moved to introduce softer penalties for possession, penalties for growers could get stiffer.ROG: HE IS REPEATING HIMSELF HERE SEE ABOVE A marijuana bill, reintroduced in November, advocates that possession of up to 15 grams would be punishable by fines of C$100 to C$150 ($85 to $125), but would no longer lead to a criminal record ROG; IRWIN COTLER THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE DISAGREES WITH YOU.
For growers, those caught with more than three plants, face up to five years in jail, or 18 months plus a C$25,000 ($20,700) fine. Those caught with more than 25 plants could face 10 years in jail, while the bill provides a maximum sentence of up to 14 years for operations with more than 50 plants. ROG: 3 PLANTS LIMIT WILL KEEP THE SEED SUPPLIERS IN BUSINESS AS ONE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP MOTHER PLANTS. AND A GARDENER GETTING WHAT A KILLER GETS.....
Last week, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan issued a warning in the wake of the shootings, telling judges that they will be forced to explain their decisions in writing if jail terms are not imposed on those who grow plants ROG: SHE CANNOT DO THAT BUT IT SOUNDS GOOD TO THE PUBLIC AS A COURT ORDER IS FINAL. Under Canadian laws, criminals face a maximum seven-year jail term. In practice, however, many people convicted of growing marijuana receive sentences of little more than a few months, police say.ROG; AND YET NOW IT LEGAL AND HAS BEEN SINCE 2000
Criminologist Patrick Parnaby says the events of last week are likely to lead to stiffer penalties ROG: IT WILL BE ANNOUNCED THAT IT IS LEGAL FIRST AS IN JOHN C TURMEL. When something like narcotics ROG: NARCOTICS IS PROCESSED BY MAN AND CANNABIS IS A FLOWER PICKED, LIKE A TOMATO is intimately tied to violence ROG: VIOLENCE HE MUST BE TALKING NOW ABOUT METH OR CRACK, there is going to be a powerful public backlash ROG A BACKLASH AGAINST THE POLITICIANS WHO DID NOT ANNOUNCE AND CHANGE THE CRIMINAL CODE TO CANNABIS LAWS BEING NULL AND VOID, says the associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario. "Stricter laws will make the public feel a whole lot better," he says. ROG; HIS OPINION MAKES NO SENSE ME OR ANY OTHER PERSON I TALKED TO AS PARLIAMENT HAS NOT PASSED ANY LAWS AS OF LATE THAT CRIMINALIZE CANNABIS
But many users pushing for decriminalization couldn't disagree more. Blair Longley, leader of the federal Marijuana Party, says legalization would wipe out criminal enterprises across the country.ROG: SIMPLE ECONOMICS AND ONLY A FEW ARE ACTUALLY INFORMED
"They've just used this [the Alberta shootings] as an excuse to crack down and enforce outdated laws," says Mr. Longley. "In reality, liberalizing the laws would mean you would get rid of almost all the profits and, therefore, all the crime." ROG: WHERE IS THE CRIME IN ACRES OF FRUIT TREES
Note: Ontario police have seen a 250 percent increase in indoor pot operations.ROG; THAT IS A GUESS.
cheers:) majere
roger m roeder
