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sues of local law enforcement are clearly part of
the cost of doing business. This section explores
some of the consequences from fragmentary data
arising from charges and convictions when
grow-operation busts take place. Although the
discussion is entirely in the context of Vancouver
data, since Vancouver is an important source of
British Columbia marijuana it is clearly a significant
environment. The first subsection looks at
the consequences for being caught by the Vancouver
police in a marijuana grow-operation over
the 1996-1999 period. 41 A second subsection characterizes
those who are caught to see whether the
punishments meted out give any hint about their
PUBLIC POLICY SOURCES, NUMBER 74
Table 9: Drug Crimes and Drug Charges in Canada and British Columbia, 2001
Incidents Known to
the Police
Actual
Number
in Canada
Actual
Number
in BC
BC as a
Share of
Canada
Incidents
Cleared
by Charge
in BC
Incidents
Cleared by
Charge
in Canada
Net of BC
Heroin—Possession 504 367 73% 37% 80%
Trafficking 403 258 64% 74% 86%
Importation 58 13 22% 23% 22%
Heroin—Total 965 638 66% 51% 75%
Cocaine—Possession 5,478 1,744 32% 38% 82%
Trafficking 6,265 1,876 30% 70% 81%
Importation 490 53 11% 28% 36%
Cocaine—Total 12,233 3,673 30% 54% 79%
Other Drugs—Possession 3,982 675 17% 25% 59%
Trafficking 2,472 329 13% 43% 76%
Importation 1,302 231 18% 17% 14%
Other Drugs—Total 7,756 1,235 16% 28% 57%
Cannabis— Possession 49,639 11,757 24% 13% 62%
Trafficking 11,124 2,098 19% 62% 73%
Importation 739 203 27% 4% 21%
Cultivation 9,122 3,477 38% 27% 37%
Cannabis—Total 70,624 17,535 25% 22% 61%
Note: 2001 population: CANADA: 31,081,887; BC: 4,095,934. BC’s population is 13% of Canada’s.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics 2001, cat. no. 85-205 XIE, pp. 17 and 37.
Appendix BCUC IR1 74.1
effectiveness in deterring illegal marijuana grow
operations. There are obviously many other important
questions to be answered, such as connections
with organized crime, and the financing and
money laundering and trading for other illegal
drugs, but the data are not able inform us on these
issues.
Sentencing those found guilty
Table 10 details the outcomes for those who were
sentenced after being convicted of offences associated
with the busting of marijuana grow-ops in
Vancouver. The first column indicates the num-
41 The raw data for this section relies on Wickstead, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” It relates to Vancouver between 1996
and 1999.
The Fraser Institute 23 Marijuana Growth in British Columbia