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As I reported last week, the RCMP arrested five individuals in four Whitehorse residences for running marijuana grow-ops in their homes. Since then, at least two more houses have been raided and more marijuana plants found. As this story in the Whitehorse Star states, over 2900 plants were seized by the police in the initial busts. (The story was published on Thursday, 29 September. I have to specify that because the Star neglects to date articles on its website. Small-town newspapers . . .) After further gathering of evidence at the first four houses and two more busts the next day, the total count of seized plants is now over 4600.
So, the RCMP shut down a huge marijuana-growing conspiracy—that's the good news. Bad news, however, has come from the Yukon judicial system. A justice of the peace and a judge, who are not named in the Star story, released four of the five arrested men on bail ranging between $3500 and $5000, and the fifth will be out in a few days for a similar amount. They were all charged with production of marijuana, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and theft of electricity.
You may think, as I do, that the bail amount is outrageously small–but there's more. The accused were ordered to hand in passports and other travel documents. Well, some of their lawyers thought that was too difficult for their clients to deal with.
This last condition is more complex for some of the men as not all of them have Canadian passports. One man is a refugee in Canada and has only a temporary work and residency permit, his lawyer, André Roothman, told the court.
A refugee, you say? Let me guess: he fled his home country because of its onerous drug laws.
Another left his documents in his home in Vancouver, according to defence lawyer Keith Parkkari.
In a rare display of judicial prudence, the judge ordered that last one held in custody until his passport is in the hands of the Whitehorse RCMP. But then, no doubt, he'll be released after putting up some pocket change to cover his bail.
No one will be surprised if the accused simply fail to appear at their trial date.
I think this is outrageous. These men ran a highly-organised illegal business, were caught with a massive quantity of life-threatening drugs worth between $2 million and $5 million (wholesale vs retail value, apparently), and they are released on bail of only $5,000 or less. I wonder if Yukon judges are still stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, when marijuana was much weaker than it is today. Hey, judges, times have changed, and so have illicit drugs. Grow-ops such as the one RCMP just shut down produce marijuana with a much higher concentration of cannabis than street pot had when our judges were adolescents. British journalist Melanie Phillips summarizes the known facts:
Scientific experts list a vast array of effects which show that, far from being relatively harmless, cannabis is one of the most toxic drugs around.
It can cause psychosis, fragmented thought processes, depersonalisation and an inability to sustain concentration and attention. It can decrease learning ability and permanently harm short-term memory. It is addictive, with many users needing it just to get out of bed in the morning.
At high levels it causes confusion, anxiety, delusions, disorientation, panic attacks, hallucinations and paranoia. A 1998 report found 50-60 per cent of cannabis users had experienced an anxiety attack.
Several studies have found it can cause impulsively violent behaviour, and is associated with violent death. One study found a far higher mortality rate among cannabis users with a very high proportion of violent deaths. Out of 268 New Yorkers sent to prison in 1984 for murder, 73 were under the influence of cannabis at the time of their crime.
Perhaps the worst thing about our judiciary's decision to release the accused for a pittance is the demoralizing effect this will have on the RCMP. Why should they devote their efforts to rooting out producers of dangerous drugs when the judges act like it's about as bad as petty theft?
If Yukon judges don't acquaint themselves with the facts about today's marijuana grow-ops and act accordingly, marijuana growers will get the message that their crime is not taken seriously here.
