A Markham, Ontario real estate agent who converted 54 rented homes into Canada’s largest-known illegal marijuana grow-op was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and fined more than $1 million.

Phu Nhi (John) Trac, 46, must serve another five years if he fails to pay the fines within two years, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Brown also ruled at the sentencing in Newmarket.

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An agent carries marijuana plants at a large plantation found near San Cristobal de Coyutlan in August. Credit: Associated Press

To weaken the cartels, some argue the U.S. should legalize marijuana, let cocaine pass through the Caribbean and take the profit motive out of the drug trade

In the 40 years since U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs," the supply and use of drugs has not changed in any fundamental way. The only difference: a taxpayer bill of more than $1 trillion.

A senior Mexican official who has spent more than two decades helping fight the government's war on drugs summed up recently what he's learned from his long career: "This war is not winnable."

Just last week, Mexican Navy Special Forces swarmed a luxury apartment tower in a central city and gunned down Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a drug trafficker whose organization helped smuggle several billion dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. during the past decade, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Within days of Mr. Beltrán Leyva's death, Mexican officials were already trying to guess which of his lieutenants would take his place. Almost no one expected the death of Mr. Beltrán Leyva to slow down the business of drug trafficking or the horrific drug-related violence in Mexico that has claimed around 15,000 lives in the past three years. On Monday, hit men gunned down several family members of a Mexican naval officer who had been killed in the Beltrán Leyva raid. Four people have been arrested in connection with the killing, though Mexican authorities say the hit men are still at large.

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You'd think that supplying medical marijuana to someone who needs medical marijuana — and has already had a licensed physician attest to that — would be enough to qualify a person as a "primary caregiver."

But you'd be wrong, at least according to the Colorado Court of Appeals. Four weeks ago, in upholding a Boulder court decision, the Court of Appeals concluded that "to qualify as a 'primary caregiver' under Colorado Constitution article XVII, section 14, a person must do more to manage the well-being of a patient who has a debilitating medical condition than merely supply marijuana." Ironically, that ruling came in the case of Stacy Clendenin, who'd been busted in 2006 for growing marijuana in her Longmont home specifically for patients — a very grassroots interpretation of caregiving that likely aligns with what Colorado voters envisioned when they approved Amendment 20 and made medical marijuana legal back in 2000. Even so, Court of Appeals judges seemed to think that a caregiver has a more "significant responsibility" than merely supplying the marijuana so intrinsic to a patient's well-being. But what, exactly?

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Three Army soldiers were among those arrested during Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's most recent crime sweep.

Deputies arrested the three soldiers on drug, money laundering and conspiracy charges.

The soldiers, Dwayne Campbell, Llewellyn Stamoulis and Romaine May were discovered to have 680 pounds of marijuana and $10,000 in cash during a traffic stop in north Phoenix.

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The Crown Princes of Cannabis Comedy – Cheech Marin and Canadian born Tommy Chong – are bringing their unique brand of dope humour back to North America – including dates in Canada.

Cheech & Chong: Get It Legal! tour is the follow-up to their hugely successful reunion tour, Cheech & Chong: Light Up America reunion tour.

Live Nation reports that the duo is scheduled to make 17 stops across North America including Canadian stops in Saskatoon at TCU Place Jan. 30 and Regina at Conexus Arts Centre Jan. 31.

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San Bernardino County narcotics agents seized 1,300 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $1 million and arrested four men during a raid at an Ontario home used by a Mexican drug cartel, authorities said.

Agents from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrested four men Wednesday morning at the home in the 1600 block of G Street. Police identified them as Eduardo Flores, 46, of Bell Gardens; Carlos Rodriguez, 29, of Los Angeles; Aurelio Lizarraga, 34, of Rialto; and Saul Ochoa, 35, of Corona.

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