cannabisnews.com: New West Wants Look in Grow-Op New West Wants Look in Grow-Op Posted by CN Staff on October 25, 2002 at 22:49:50 PT By Wanda Chow Source: New Westminster Newsleader New Westminster city hall will do everything in its power to address concerns raised by a licensed marijuana grow operation in Queensborough, council said Monday. As reported in the NewsLeader, police and council learned earlier this month that marijuana was being grown in a residential neighbourhood under license from Health Canada. Under federal marijuana medical access regulations, license holders are provided exemptions from drug laws, allowing them to possess and cultivate the narcotic for medicinal purposes. Council approved a decision Monday that would see city staff pursue an inspection of the rental property involved to determine whether the grow operation is safe and complies with city bylaws and regulations. If the occupants or owner of the property does not voluntarily allow an inspection to be conducted, the city solicitor has been authorized to obtain the necessary court order to do so. So far, the property owner does not object to the inspection, but the occupants have requested written notice before they will allow it, said a city staff report. The written notice has been issued. Concerns raised by the licensed grow op include neighbourhood safety. “There have been many incidents of violence between marijuana growers and drug traffickers,” the report said. From the city and police department’s experience, other hazards of many grow operations include those relating to moisture problems and mould growth, electrical hazards, unsafe building modifications, contamination of the water system and improper use of chemicals. There are also few restrictions on who can receive a licence as a designated producer for medical patients needing the drug, the report said. The only restrictions are that the person is over 18 years old, is normally a resident in Canada, has not been convicted of certain drug offences in the last 10 years and has not made false statements on the application. “The process does not consider the person’s character or if the person has been charged with drug offences.” In addition to pursuing an inspection, council will write to local Canadian Alliance MP Paul Forseth and federal Health Minister Anne McLellan inform ing them of the city’s concerns over the marijuana medical access regulations. Council’s moves were partly in response to concerns raised by the Queensborough Residents’ Association whose membership demanded all grow operations, legal or not, be prohibited from that community. “Queensborough residents do not want grow operations in the neighbourhood as they contravene local community safety and health standards and will attract undesirable criminal elements into our peaceful community impacting the livability or our law-abiding citizens and taxpayers,” the association said in a letter to council. Referring to the fact Health Canada will not release the locations of licensed grow operations, citing privacy legislation, Coun. Casey Cook said, “The medical marijuana legislation we’ve seen is all about secrecy, yet the licence holder held a press conference in the house.” Indeed, Coun. Jerry Dobrovolny said the first he heard of the operation was from a radio report of the press conference in which many local media were toured through the operation. “I was absolutely flabbergasted the federal government would take this type of action without any local input at all.” Coun. Chuck Puchmayr stressed he supported the use of marijuana for medical purposes but said his concerns about safety would be the same “if they were growing 300 tomato plants in the basement. “I want to see nothing less than the basic requirements for anything else,” Puchmayr said. Coun. Calvin Donnelly was critical of Ottawa for allowing such a situation to occur in residential neighbourhoods. “They can open up these things and nobody knows they’re around? The federal government has obviously lost their head on this kind of thing.” Source: New Westminster Newsleader (CN BC)Author: Wanda ChowPublished: October 22, 2002Copyright: 2002 New Westminster NewsleaderContact: newsroom newwestnewsleader.comWebsite: http://www.newwestnewsleader.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmResidents Upset by Pot Factory http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14530.shtmlAnswers Sought On Legal Grow-Ophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14406.shtmlMarijuana Factory to Sue Paper http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14377.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment