cannabisnews.com: Pot Not The Problem Here Pot Not The Problem Here Posted by CN Staff on March 04, 2005 at 23:20:48 PT By Greg Weston -- Sun Ottawa Bureau Source: Ottawa Sun Within hours of the horrific killing of four young RCMP officers by a rifle-toting lunatic on an Alberta pot farm, everyone from politicians to police and pundits was pointing fingers at the scourge of marijuana grow operations. "The issue of grow ops is not a Ma and Pa industry," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told a news conference Thursday night. "These are major serious threats to our society, and they are major serious threats to the men and women in the front line who have to deal with them." Sadly, like most heinous crimes, the worst police massacre in our modern history is not so easily explained. Indeed, far from bringing reason to a society's grief, chasing marijuana grow ops is to go looking in all the wrong places for the causes and culprits of this unspeakable tragedy. There is no doubt the proliferation of pot farms, as Zaccardelli put it, is a spreading plague in our society. In cities across the country, pot producers are setting up shop by the thousands, sometimes in warehouses, but mostly in residential homes in otherwise quiet, family neighbourhoods. According to the latest estimates by Canadian law enforcement agencies, the total annual marijuana production in this country is hitting an astounding 2 billion grams, or something over $20 billion. Little wonder it is an industry dominated by organized crime and other underworld elements steeped in violent law-breaking. As the latest RCMP criminal intelligence report states: "Home invasions, drug-rip-offs, burglaries, assaults and murders, are only a few examples of the dangers that are par for the course when dealing in drugs." Treacherous as the marijuana industry may be, however, it had little to do with this week's horrendous bloodbath in a quonset hut in the Alberta countryside. In this case, the culprit was a madman, not marijuana. The real issue is why a well-known nutbar named James Roszko was still loose in society, not that he had pot plants growing in his garage. It doesn't take a criminologist to know that Roszko was bound for horror -- the only question was when the end would come, and just how terrible it would be. Just ask his own father. "He is the devil," Roszko's dad told the Sun hours after the shootings. "He's been in trouble so many other times, I hate it. I don't want him as my son." As the Sun's team of reporters on the scene this week discovered, Roszko was a reclusive freak with a rap sheet that should have sounded alarms throughout the criminal justice system. Among other things, that lifetime of trouble included shooting at two people who ventured on his property in 1999; holding a gun to a neighbour's head; and enclosing his property in double-wire fences and what police described as "booby-traps." Roszko did some prison time -- for raping a family member repeatedly over a six-year period. "He's a nutcase, just insane," said one neighbour who was actually an acquaintance of Roszko for 13 years until "he had me on his couch in his house with a gun pointed at me." But Roszko was not only "known to police," as they say in the official reports. He was known to hate the police, and none more than the RCMP. The questions are so obvious: Why was this maniac not in captivity? Was there nothing at any stage in all of his run-ins with the law that tripped a light in someone's head enough to say, this man is a danger to society? Why were two and then four young constables armed with nothing but handguns sent into a likely confrontation with a nut known to have guns, hate cops and be crazy enough to kill? Confronted with precisely this question yesterday, an RCMP spokesman stated: "We have to treat people with respect. And while we have to be mindful of their past, if we see someone walking down the street that we've had a past history with, we wouldn't automatically pull out our guns. The situation has to be assessed and that will be part of our review and recommendations will be put forward." Cold comfort for four dead police officers. Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)Author: Greg Weston -- Sun Ottawa BureauPublished: March 5, 2005Copyright: 2005 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: oped ott.sunpub.comWebsite: http://www.ottawasun.com/Related Articles:Front in The Drug War Opens on Canadian Borderhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20323.shtmlOttawa Aims To Get Tough on MJ Grow-ops http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20317.shtmlIt's Time for Canada To Legalize Cannabishttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20289.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by siege on March 05, 2005 at 09:51:35 PT aggrieve the dea/and some LEO's are One's who is/are unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others. in live they have no place that will accept them if you want to cut on something you become a Dr. or butcher if you want to beat someones braines out you become a boxer or DEA or a wrestler the wrestler takes brains to perform that art so that leave them out. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by ekim on March 05, 2005 at 07:59:57 PT Mar 10 05 Mount Allison University 08:00 AM Canada Mar 5 05 MassCan Open Meeting 03:30 PM Jack Cole Newton MA USA Executive Director Jack A. Cole will preach to the converted at the the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition Meeting held at Pizza Uno at 287 Washington Street. Come learn strategies for ending drug prohibition that work! Mar 7 05 WCOJ 1420 AM Radio - The Big Show 05:00 PM Peter Christ West Chester Pennsylvania USA Board Member Peter Christ sits down with Robert Hanson of The Big Show on WCOJ 1420 AM Radio to discuss drug prohbition issues such as mandatory minimums, the effect on minority populations and a myriad of other topics. Mar 8 05 Milford-Matamoras Rotary Club 12:15 PM Peter Christ Milford Pennsylvania USA The Milford-Matamoras Rotary Club welcomes Board Member Peter Christ for lunch and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohibition. Mar 8 05 Smithfields Rotary Club 07:00 AM Peter Christ East Stroudsburg Pennsylvania USA Members of the Smithfields Rotary Club welcome Board Member Peter Christ for breakfast and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Mar 9 05 Southampton Lions Club 07:00 PM Peter Christ Warminster Pennsylvania USA Members of the Southampton Lions Club welcome Board Member Peter Christ for discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Mar 9 05 Frackville Rotary Club 08:00 AM Peter Christ Frackville Pennsylvania USA Continuing his eastern Pennsylvania tour, Board Member Peter Christ sits down with members of the Frackville Rotary Club for breakfast and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Mar 10 05 Kiwanis Club of Allentown 12:00 PM Peter Christ Allentown Pennsylvania USA The Kiwanis Club of Allentown welcomes Board Member Peter Christ for lunch and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohibition. Mar 10 05 Victorville Kiwanis 12:00 PM Jim Gray Victorville California USA The Victorville Kiwanis welcomes Board Member Jim Gray for lunch and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Mar 10 05 Rotary Club of Kennett at Longwood 06:45 AM Peter Christ Kennett Square Pennsylvania USA Board Member Peter Christ sits down with the Rotary Club of Kennett at Longwood for breakfast and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Mar 10 05 Mt. Pocono Rotary Club 06:00 PM Peter Christ Mt. Pocono Pennsylvania USA Board Member Peter Christ meets with members of the Mt. Pocono Rotary Club for dinner and discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohibition. Mar 10 05 Mount Allison University 08:00 AM Alison Myrden Sackville New Brunswick Canada Speaker Alison Myrden will speak to selected classes of the Mount Allison University and members of the local media about the failures of drug prohibition. Mar 10 05 John Jay College of Criminal Justice 07:30 PM Jim Gray New York New York USA Speaker Judge Jim Gray visits with instructors and students of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to discuss issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. http://www.leap.cc/events/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by cannaman on March 05, 2005 at 07:57:50 PT upbringing You see what kind of father raises a child then blames the child for his lack of parenting, he is more worried about the embarrasment that this situation caused him rather than stating the fact that he just lost a son to these assholes. When you go into police work you are living by the sword or gun, live by it die by it I have no compassion for people who die the way they live!!!! They chose a job that requires the use of a gun. Could have been a doctor, lawyer, firefighter, mechanic, but they chose the gun too bad for them. And furthermore I really believe that these four poor officers were in the wrong place at the wrong time, seems to me a lack of training as well as the lack of truth is the only thing missing from this story! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by siege on March 05, 2005 at 07:39:55 PT McLellan presses judiciary on pot sentences http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050305/SHOOTINGOTTAWA05/TPNational/Canada [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by siege on March 05, 2005 at 07:21:41 PT Modesto council ready to discuss marijuana store http://www.modbee.com/local/story/10071450p-10898726c.htmlMarijuana found in dead teacher's homehttp://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/consumer_news/11052876.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by afterburner on March 05, 2005 at 07:17:15 PT The Green Collar Worker "Planetary spiritual progress may depend on it."I say, "Planetary spiritual progress *does* depend on it." Not only that, Planetary mental, emotional and physical progress depend on Planetary spiritual progress.This article rightly questions police procedure in this horrible case: the 4 mounties were sent in like "lambs to the slaughter." What were their superiors thinking? Where was the backup? The 4 rookies deserved better strategic and tactical planning. Their families deserve to know why their loved ones were sacrificed so foolishly. They need time to grieve, without Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli trying to use their tragedy as political capital for their anti-cannabis crusade/vendetta.The other half of the article is tired prohibitionist rhetoric, parroting anti-cannabis dogma without questioning it. He fails to see or mention the reason that indoor "grow-ops" have proliferated. He uncritically reports the logical consequences, indoor "grow-ops," without expaining the cause, government and law enforcement harassment of outdoor grows of a popular healing herb with no toxicity. The good Lord blessed this herb on the first page of the Bible, but the writer of the article jumps on the demonizing bandwagon. Half-truths, do they help us any?The financial incentive caused by prohibition itself is mentioned only in passing, without expaining that the prices and gains to growers are artificially inflated by the very cannabis prohibition itself.Lazy journalism, regarding cannabis itself and those who thank the Lord for its blessings. We deserve better. Legalize, regulate and tax is the only permanent solution to reducing the potential violence inherent in turning production over to criminals by maintaining cannabis prohibition. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by potpal on March 05, 2005 at 07:00:55 PT violence The violence I see in all this is on the side of the antis, kicking in doors in the middle of the night, guns drawn, slamming people down and ransacking their homes, killing people, incarcarating people, taking children away from their parents, confiscating homes and other property, forcing labor, barking dogs and leathered up warriors ready and itching to pounce and run you through the grind, that's violence to me. Now they use this to ratchet it up, more weapons to fight the war. More violence. War is peace. Sick. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on March 05, 2005 at 05:18:48 PT They knew the guy was a nutcase yet they go out to his farm and hangout until he turns up with his guns drawn on whom he considers trespassers, and, not only that, they're cops whom he hates. The RCMP are there... at his farm. First and foremost, it sounds like the RCMP has been listening to those jokers in Washington, DC. You know, those jokers who invade countries with whole armies and tell everybody that the poor, oppressed Iraqis will bring them flowers and cake with hugs and kisses. An invasion that will incredibly have no casualities. A government that bombs a country into submission, kills 100,000 native inhabitants are the ones you have to look out for. They're the real nutcases.If I were the Canadian government, I'd be careful of those nutcases.Watch out RCMP, you've got a tiger by the tail. 'American' style drugwarring is bad news. Always bad. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by mayan on March 05, 2005 at 05:18:39 PT What A Nut! It sounds like Roszko was a walking time-bomb anyway. He shot at people and repeatedly raped a family member? Why wasn't he still in prison? They probably had to free him to make room for more cannabis growers. On an unrelated note, it looks like the U.S. and Britain have succeeded in turning Afghanistan into a narco-state...Report: Afghan opium a 'threat to world stability': http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/afghan.narcotics.ap/index.htmlAfghan Opium Production Surges: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0305/211454.htmlUK attempt to eradicate Afghan opium fails: http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1428288,00.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 05, 2005 at 03:56:20 PT Sorry 2 billion grams pot farms, as Zaccardelli put it, is a spreading plague in our societyTHCURomans 15:5 etc, "Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus."Cannabis Prohibitionists should join Us, the truth.Cannabis is good; the Bible tells Us so; it is the truth &&& We should all be of the same mind!!!Planetary spiritual progress may depend on it.The Green Collar Worker [ Post Comment ] Post Comment