Four RCMP officers were killed Wednesday at the scene of a marijuana grow op in rural Alberta -- carnage not seen by the force since the 1885 Northwest Rebellion.

Politicians are already talking tougher penalties. But is that really going to solve the problem?

In the early reportage on this case, CTV News' Sarah Galashan said people in the town of Mayerthorpe described suspected shooter Jim Roszko as a "walking time bomb."

It isn't clear what happened, but the word "ambush" is being thrown around (the officers were apparently securing a quonset hut; the marijuana and some stolen auto parts were inside).

Roszko was apparently armed with an assault rifle (question: Legally obtained or not?).

When you have a human time bomb armed with an assault rifle, bad things are extremely possible.

His attack on the officers occurred early Thursday. He also killed himself.

I would argue no penalty would have prevented what happened. Intentionally killing a police officer is automatically first-degree murder, which means life without possibility of parole for 25 years. It is our most serious crime.

In a Canadian Press story, a Calgary police officer said this showed the dangers of grow-ops.

"There is some apathy out there, and unfortunately maybe it takes incidents like this to wake people up," said Staff Sgt. Birnie Smith of the Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team. "It's a danger to everyone."

However, this is the only case I can think of where officers have been fired on, let alone killed.

What I find intriguing about grow-ops is how they appear to be growing like weeds (sorry, bad pun). And it's not just in total number; it's also a question of operation size and audacity.

There was a huge grow-op in an abandoned brewery in Barrie, Ont. In Coquitlam, B.C., a grow op took up about 28 units of an 80-unit townhouse.

In Victoria, B.C., one was found near police headquarters.

This tells me there's a large demand for marijuana, and at a price high enough to make enormous profits possible.

Trying to convince people not to smoke pot doesn't appear to be an effective way to reduce demand. If it was, we wouldn't have grow ops.

And so long as the profit potential remains extremely high, I don't think increased penalties for those small numbers who get caught will have much of an impact in reducing supply.

Is the answer to take supply out of the hands of criminals?

It's a debate society might want to have.

Addendum:

Ontario had a Green Tide Summit in January 2004 to discuss how to shut down grow ops. Here's a news release about it.

Pro-marijuana types had an alternate view.