cannabisnews.com: Residents Upset by Pot Factory 





Residents Upset by Pot Factory 
Posted by CN Staff on October 22, 2002 at 10:13:35 PT
By Martha Wickett, Record Reporter 
Source: Royal City Record
At its Oct. 15 meeting, the Queensborough Ratepayers' Association vowed to lobby hard to get the recently established Marijuana Factory out of Queensborough. The Marijuana Factory officially opened on Sept. 30 by providing tours to the media. Specifics of its location, however, must be kept secret under the federal Privacy Act. Present to answer questions at the Queensborough meeting were Insp. Dave Jones of New Westminster police and Keith Coueffin of the city's strategic services department. 
Coueffin said city hall found out about the Health Canada-licensed grow op only from media reports - the federal government alerted neither city hall nor police to its presence. A medicinal marijuana grow op requires only the approval of the property owner, Coueffin said, which the Queensborough operation has. Coueffin noted the city has written to the federal government asking that the operation cease until the city can make sure it complies with health and safety regulations. While explaining that the city is researching legal solutions, he pointed out that the medical marijuana legislation was initiated by a senior level of government with vast legal resources. There is currently a challenge to an Ontario court decision regarding the legislation, Jones said. "It (the legislation) seems to be hastily put together." Jones said the city is focusing on the safety aspects of growing marijuana in a residential home. He said potential health hazards may include moulds and spores, fire hazards, plus the safety of inhabitants if others discover where the operation is. Jones pointed out that the federal government had tried to grow legal marijuana itself in a potash mine, but wasn't successful. To laughter, he added: "Then they thought, 'Hey, there are some people in B.C. who know how to grow it.'" Asked how police know who is allowed to possess medical marijuana, Jones said everyone who does must carry a permit. Health Canada issues permits to grow it and possess it. In Queensborough, the Marijuana Factory is growing marijuana on behalf of three people with licences. Jones explained that because not everyone who needs medicinal marijuana can grow it, a person can be licensed to grow it for another person. One location can grow marijuana for a maximum of three people. Asked who polices the licences, Jones replied: "This is a Health Canada initiative, and it has inspectors. Not to say they rushed this through (to audience laughter) - but there are no inspectors in British Columbia." To shut down the grow op, Jones said, support is needed. "If we can get the director (of Cannabis Access at Health Canada) to revoke the permits, we're on our way." City councillor Casey Cook suggested that letters written should emphasize that a marijuana grow op doesn't conform to community standards in terms of health and safety. Mayor Helen Sparkes suggested that residents could bombard Liberal Members of Parliament, possibly those in Vancouver, with their protests. One resident pointed out that writing MPs is free - you can write as many letters to as many MPs as you want. Another resident suggested finding the grow op and pressuring the growers to leave. Insp. Jones cautioned against such action, noting that the Queensborough Marijuana Factory might not be the only legal grow op in the city. Noting that the federal government won't tell even the police where they are, others could be located throughout the city. "There could be one above the police station - there are condos up there." Despite the public outcry, a licencee at the Marijuana Factory told The Record that residents needn't be worried. "There's been no electrical adapting, no plumbing adapting done - someone's living there so they wouldn't do anything to compromise their safety in their own home. These concerns are all unfounded," he said. He said the growers have had concerns expressed from the city because the operation is being compared to an illegal grow op. "This is totally different. There are no holes in the wall, no making of adaptations, no damages..." As for spores and mold, he said the house has air conditioning and other temperature controls. "So there won't be any mold... We open up some windows and allow the breeze to blow through." He also said it's not a big operation. It uses one light and will be growing a maximum of 100 plants. Asked if he's worried about break-ins or home invasions, he said, no, as long as no one reveals the location. "There's a dog on the premises, there's video surveillance, double bars on the door, an alarm system, and someone's there all the time." The Marijuana Factory will be holding a "ceremonial harvest" in the new year, he said, after which the crop will be processed into balls for ingesting. He said the licencees mix it in foods such as soup, cookies and butter. Note: Get the medicinal marijuana grow operation out of our community. Source: Royal City Record (CN BC)Author: Martha Wickett, Record Reporter Published: Monday, October 21, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.Contact: editorial royalcityrecord.com Website: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmAnswers Sought On Legal Grow-Ophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14406.shtmlMarijuana Factory to Sue Paper http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14377.shtmlPolice Not Invited To New Legal Grow-op http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14363.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by DANA on October 23, 2002 at 00:37:22 PT
..GREAT SCOTT!!!
...CongressmanSuet.............Just so you know....I was flattenned,and slayed upon seeing your return email thing!...not kidding....ya dam near killed me!......You're the F#**%#g BEST!
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Comment #4 posted by Naaps on October 23, 2002 at 00:32:46 PT
My Neighborhood!
Not exactly, Queensborough is just across the bridge, just a mile away. I gleaned the street name from the Newsleader report, and made a point of riding my bike along it. Yes, it is a residential neighborhood, with kids riding bikes, turbaned new Canadians walking, cars parked along the road, or in short driveways. Of the 80-100 modest, closely spaced homes, none stood out as a Marijuana Factory.My wife’s cousin lives on the street over. I visited him asking if the family felt at risk, if neighbors were concerned. He wasn’t concerned, and neighbors weren’t clamoring for protection. There’s probably cannabis growing, on average, at least one home on every street in New Westminster. Mayor Helen Sparkes is on the police board. Last year the board drafted a tough bylaw against growing, producing, selling, or using illegal substances, which hits landlords for fines due to behaviors of the tenants, if the landlord wasn’t the one calling the police the inform them of the infraction. Note that, in Canada using a drug is specifically illegal in prison, but not elsewhere. The BC Civil Liberties Association pointed out that New Westminster has the same onus against use as in Federal Penitentiaries.There’s an election coming within the next four weeks. Last time in 1999, Sparks had no challengers. This time she has one challenger, and despite my own disgust with her recent performance, will probably win her third term.FoM, I’m impressed you were able to post this article.Goneposthole, New Westminster doesn’t have a distillery, but the Labatt’s Brewery was prominently upheld as a fine contributor to the local economy by the NewsLeader just on September 21, with a front page glorification of the beer industry.
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Comment #3 posted by CongressmanSuet on October 22, 2002 at 23:24:50 PT:
 I mean, c'mon....
 These people are so worried about the health ramifications, blah, blah, blah, but they cant figure out where the place even is, exactly how much harm can the place be doing when they dont even know where it is, and it was apparently inspected by the media, etc., this is really quite ludicrous...and by the way, good to see you back Kap. It would be interesting to get any insights you have about the "Beltway Sniper". I know you reside in that area....
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Comment #2 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on October 22, 2002 at 12:36:25 PT
Oh MY GOD....
Holy cow, someone growing pot for medical people licensed by the federal govt? It won't be long before Al-qaeda runs the town govt and planes begin crashing into the neighborhood. Also expect very small and weak innocent men and women to be trapped inside their homes screaming for mercy, held hostage by the evil drug-crazed horticulturists and their band of huns.hide the children! Build walls around the house! Won't someone help us? AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
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Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on October 22, 2002 at 11:43:45 PT
Pharmaceutical factory
If a pharmaceutical company were to build a factory, employ a few hundred people, pollute the air, the streams, the bodies of the people in the town, that would be ok.I would hope that the neighbors would re-evaluate their position.It isn't a distillery, for that they can be thankful.
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