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A grow-op of this size would bring a minimum six-month prison sentence under the Conservative government’s proposed bill. A conviction of cultivating more than 200 marijuana plants would result in a mandatory one-year jail term. Photo, courtesy of bclocalnews.com.
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Well the bad news is, if you grow more than six marijuana plants then you’re likely to face mandatory minimum imprisonment of up to six months.
In an article I wrote a couple of days ago, I mentioned the fact that the conservatives’ idea of tackling crime in Canada through harsher sentences and longer prison terms is an already tried and failed technique.
All we have to do is look south of the border and see what stronger punishments have done to curb crime rates. Absolutely nothing!
In fact “a tough on crime agenda” is more likely to worsen the problem of crime rather than alleviate it.
What the Conservative government is actually proposing is to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act through Bill S-10. The bill’s predecessor, C-15, was defeated in the Senate last time it was introduced by the Liberals, whom before the federal election in May still controlled the Senate.
Here are the details of the proposed amendments, taken from BC Local News.com:
BILL S-10
– is an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and was introduced in the Senate on May 5, 2010.
– calls for a minimum six-month sentence for producing anywhere from six to 200 marijuana plants, one year for 201 to 500 plants, and two years for more than 500.
– calls for a mandatory minimum one-year jail sentence for trafficking drugs such as heroin, cocaine and meth if certain aggravating factors apply – for example, if the offence was committed for a criminal organization or if violence or the threat of violence was used.
– calls for a mandatory minimum two-year sentence if the trafficking was committed in or near a school, on or near school grounds, or in or near any public place frequented by people under 18.
– calls for a minimum two-year sentence for producing a drug such as heroin, cocaine or meth, and three years if health and safety factors apply, including producing the drug in a location occupied by a child under the age of 18.
– allows for sentencing to be delayed to enable offenders, in certain cases, to participate in a drug treatment program. If the treatment is successfully completed, the court can impose a suspended or reduced sentence.
Pretty bad huh. I am of the view that a minimum of six plants is just too harsh of a requirement for pot users that may have a small growing operation; and i’m neither a user nor a grower. Two hundred plants and a minimum of one year for sentencing, however, sounds more reasonable.
There have been a plethora of claims that suggest that Marijuana grow ops, from those classified as small scale, like six plants or more, to those classified as large scale, around 200 plants or more, have been intricately tied to organized crime. According to Abbotsford (British Colombia) Police Chief Bob Rich, the money gained from growing operations most often ends up being used for the promotion and trafficking of other more dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin and crystal meth.
However, before one asks how Bob Rich knows of such connections between grow ops and the trafficking of other drugs, except the fact that he sounds like he is simply trying to connect other more dangerous drugs to marijuana use, it is important to note that he is a sponsor of a resolution by the B.C. Association of the Chiefs of Police to support Bill S-10.
According to one researcher, UFV criminology professor Darryl Plecas, who has studied grow operations for over 14 years, the numbers on marijuana grow ops show the following:
POT BY THE NUMBERS:
– There are at least 10,000 grow-ops across B.C. In recent years there is less concentration in the Lower Mainland, and more in the Interior.
– In B.C., 16.8 per cent of the population, or 585,000 people, use marijuana.
– Based on the above figures it is estimated that 70 per cent of the pot grown in B.C. is exported out of province.
– The trend is toward grow-ops that are increasingly large, sophisticated and designed to escape detection.
– The average grow-op in B.C through the 1990s was 196 plants.
– The average grow-op in Mission (an area of study) is currently 700 plants.
– The average grow-op in the Cariboo is currently 1,000 plants.
– When police become aware of a grow-op, they don’t respond to it more than 50 per cent of the time, due to a lack of resources.
– When police become aware of a grow-op, 55 per cent of the time it is as a result of tips, and most of the other times it is while investigating other crimes.
– When police do respond to information about grow-ops, 92 per cent of the time they find one.
Source: UFV Criminology Department
Also, considering these numbers, and the fact that according to professor Plecas, 35% of the time police bust a grow up they just seize the plants and do not lay any charges, how does the chief of police in Abbotsford know of the previously mentioned connections between heavy organized crime and the trafficking of more serious drugs, to pot?
Of course, he is the Big Cheese in Abbotsford isn’t he? so we should just take his word on it.
There are many transgressions that the Conservative government has committed, purely for ideological reasons, that have worsened the conditions in which people have to live across the country.
Small scale pot growers will not be an exception if Bill S-10 passes.
I find it incomprehensible as to why Canada is still following the U.S. model of enforcement against such a relatively harmless and almost insignificant drug.
The Harper government needs to be stopped before it manages to label large swaths of Canadians, at least 16.8% in B.C. according to the UFV study, as criminals.
