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1 vv ofcftgtheseediersipepf life1n york regionagsesbagg i jm js yvv in aragusers iw thisjs jmejrta regular j series of features about y jhejdarker side ofjife in krfc region s j by kathleen griffin staff writer c f i rass weedpot f ghanja cannabistsmdke v they all mean marijuv na and its still the drug of choiceinyorkregiori despite growing fears about rave drugs ecstasy and ghbjthe date rapedrug thatare gaining t increased media attention m the city they havent hit york region in a bigway yetsay police and sub- stance abuse prograrrf officials wesull havent seen an ecstasy i seizuredet kirdicksoriof the yorkregionaltpoliceivice squad r said yitseemsttode everywherev rromwhatwehearinthepressduti here arent raves here compared to 8000 4x legalizcbr i r- is j- each ounce is worth about 300 on the street dickson said fifty plantsthree ounces each a 300 per ounce is about 45000vvery 52 days thats 270i000 a yeara jvmfoarotatingcropohke the j bust in markham december1998 where there were more than 100000 plants thembney can be massive said dickson if you have a chsttibution network you can be doing business k t j c asiwelc growers ofterrruplthe potency becausethey control jthe in the 60s thethc level wasabout2 per cent now its 18 or 19 per cent itsaldifferent drug nowi 5than it wasjthen klimm said v irian salmers executive director of addiction 7l t three nave a beng reputation that you- per cant get into serious trouble o the ifstkequality rangeand- fmm the enhanced potency that can be kg a- quite scary low levels have a fairly b than s g- v heroin in tke north said del mikew- intensity growlights- andvitamin- 4 tsec wfiks page 9 t chiefs associationtresolution said york region police chief robert nddaugh 1- t what happens tothe offi- cers right to search and seizure and arrest what liappensif its decriminali2dand nd right for front line officers to- search to arirescto seize none i of vthose questions t been answered and until i hear the- answers im not prepared to go any farther than tpsay i support f the coricept kathleen griffin j v iv xtl vfslt 6y 6s sczsljslsz xyce jr v asmtiafmuc 81 v 1 i k 100 people for theirppin- loifon decriminalizing marijua- naaridyoure different answers for 100 differ ent reasons f h a recent ppllsuggsts two- thirds ofcanadisnsfavourvthe t idea that possession of small 1 v amounts of pot should be non- criminal punishable by fines- v r rather that jadlime j r t formeryork regiohalpohce chief julian fantinp andthe canadianassociationdf chiefsj of police have called for decnm- i inalizing marijuana arguing the t r 4 dnmoreseripusfoffencesnpt t ssiriiple possession charges that 4 often end up being clischarged teysonallyrmnifayoufof- ii said vice squadjdetkirk i dickson- jthegovernmenthas no problem taxing atcohpland cigarettes itssopfevaleht 3 theres nowywe will eyer r tt hundreds ofthousahds dol- lars a year so theygo to court and pay a 2000 fine its the- cost of doing business- no one- prosecuteaggressively 1 j v- detfmike klimm has a differ- ent perspective v vit allswtswithmariiuana c vno 6rie starts s the hard drugs he said every day we seea desensitizing of marijuana i n 4 1 f