timiscute

Marijuana grow-ops reaching epidemic proportions in Ontario, top cop says
10/29/09 | The Canadian Press | Susanna Kelley

TORONTO — Illegal marijuana cultivation has reached epidemic proportions in Ontario and justice officials in the United States have branded their northern neighbour a "source country," the province's top police official said Wednesday.

Marijuana is exported south and traded for crystal meth and crack cocaine which are then brought back into Canada, provincial police Commissioner Julian Fantino said Wednesday.

"The going terminology is 'brown south, white north,"' Fantino said, adding marijuana is also being exchanged for guns.

"It's a black eye on Canada when you have the United States... refer to us as a source country of marijuana."

Investigating and shutting down marijuana grow-ops make up 60 per cent of the workload of the force's drug enforcement unit, said OPP Insp. Brian Martin.

Cracking down on those operations should help drive down the import of crystal meth and crack cocaine, he said.

"You have to stop the problem at one end and hopefully that product's not coming back in."

Provincial police announced it seized and destroyed more than 118,000 marijuana plants from 220 grow operations, charging 56 people during its annual eight-week marijuana eradication program - up from 10,000 plants from last year.

Over the last five years the force has investigated nearly 2,800 grow-ops. They've also seized more than 2,700 weapons.

An increasing number of suppliers are moving from indoor to outdoor grow-ops, which can produce more plants, police said.

The OPP found one outdoor operation producing 40,000 plants.

There is also an "alarming increase" in the use of loaded weapons, animal traps, armed guards and even illegal immigrants by growers to ward off so-called "pot pirates" and police, they said.

Organized crime is a huge operation with tentacles that reach internationally and its involvement in grow-ops is increasing, said Fantino.

"Organized crime will use whoever and will do whatever (to) achieve their goals and objectives, which is to make these obscene profits illegally."

The "drug subculture" was responsible for what Fantino called an epidemic of very serious crimes, such as robberies, several years ago in Orillia, Ont.

"(Marijuana) is the precursor, if you will, to so much of the violence and other activities... that end up victimizing the most vulnerable communities," he said.

"You know full well what the consequences of what crack does to a neighbourhood, the vulnerability of some of these people in these neighbourhoods, the violence associated with it."

The fight against drugs just isn't about "smoking a little joint here and there."

"It's about the bigger picture... It's a public safety threat, it's an officer safety threat," he said.

Canada is too soft on drug-related criminals, Fantino added.

"Those (criminals) working cross-border, we'd love for them to get indicted into the United States because that's where they're really going to get the business."

While Fantino conceded police are fighting an uphill battle against the grow-ops, and that the battle will never be won, he added things would be much worse if police weren't combating drugs.

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BillieBudd

"It's a black eye on Canada when you have the United States... refer to us as a source country of marijuana."
Well, I am not Canadian, but to some citizens there, that might be a source of pride

newcarcaviar

Just last night a guy at the bar was telling a group of us about this. Go get 'em, Canada! Flood the maket and completely overwhelm the authorities!

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Shine on, Syd. 1946-2006

Mikeebud

"While Fantino conceded police are fighting an uphill battle against the grow-ops, and that the battle will never be won, he added things would be much worse if police weren't combating drugs."

While the battle will never be won, yet the margin that drugs defeat the authorities becomes bigger and bigger every year, Canadian goverments still dish out 500 million of taxpayers money when you continue to lose?

Oh yeah.. to keep a job, and to keep america from crying. When in 2001, we tried to pass bills to legalize marijuana and U.S protests stopped it from passing?

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Religion is just a theroy, Like the goverment that's your friend.

MetallicaFan495

How often do you hear about tobacco grow ops?

Legalizing and regulating it the CORRECT way will kill the black market.

MrIMStoned

Is it just me or is being the source of marijuana a heck of a lot better than being the source of crack, guns and meth.

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"In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable what then?"

KillerWeed420

Oh no another epidemic.lol
Anyone ever get tired of that word?lol

dj Dozhe

I guess the difference is this article state Canada as a major source of marijuana, but it does not state the US as a major source of crack, guns and meth. It would be nice to know the numbers, but this article only focuses on the crack, guns and meth traded for marijuana. Considering they have no idea how much of these three products cross the border in the first place, it's probably even more difficult to get an accurate picture of how much is traded.

Personally, I don't like being a part of anyone's source of these products in any amount. I've seen too many lives ended by these three. The only thing I've ever seen marijuana end is a bag of chips.

buzz

If those crazy canuks are sending that good weed south how come I never got any living here in michigan??

Victor_vicious

My geuss would be because you don't have any crack, meth or guns to trade for it.