NEW GROW-OP BYLAW MISGUIDED

When a property owner rents out a home or apartment there is a tacit
(and legal) expectation that the tenant will not destroy the property
by converting it into a mini-marijuana factory.

However, a new bylaw passed by North Cowichan council on Feb. 21
meant to curtail marijuana production in the area and limit the
amount of damage that activity does to rental units represents an
affront to tenants rights and will do little to limit the amount of
marijuana on mid-Island streets.

With house prices rising faster on Vancouver Island than most
residents' income, the prospect of owning a home is fast becoming a
distant goal for young people and those of limited means.
Accordingly, the number of people renting or leasing accommodation is
sure to rise, as will the number of people trying to establish
comfortable lives for themselves under somebody else's roof.

The 95-plus per cent of these tenants not cultivating marijuana
should feel comfortable knowing that their landlord has faith in
their stewardship of the property.

Nothing prevents property owners from paying regular visits to their
homes or apartments provided adequate notice is given to the tenants,
and most law-abiding renters are willing to oblige. If property
owners opt not to visit, it is because they believe their property is
in good hands.

For more proactive landlords who do pay regular visits, it is not
hard to detect the presence of a grow-op in their property. The bags
of fertilizer, spent halide light bulbs, and empty plastic pots piled
up beside the house are usually a good indication of the activities
being conducted on the other side of the walls, not to mention the
lingering aroma of skunk in the air.

The production and cultivation of marijuana is a police matter. If
responsibility now falls to landlords to act as marijuana watchdogs,
why not broaden their mandate?

When visiting a tenant they could take a list of police-prepared
questions to ask -- "Excuse me ma'am, has your husband struck you at
any time in the last two months?" -- or give them the power to obtain
telephone and computer records to analyze for evidence of fraud
committed from within the dwelling.

The bylaw established in North Cowichan may very well dissuade
small-fish marijuana producers from setting up shop in the basement
of someone's duplex, but the big fish will remain free to conduct
their business.

They are the one's who tend large outdoor fields far from prying
public eyes. They are the ones who own farms and warehouses and run
legitimate businesses to wash the proceeds of their trade. Finally,
they are the ones who put the drugs on the street. They are not the
mom and pop operations that tend a few plants for personal recreational use.

This bylaw is less about drugs than it is about ensuring property
owners don't suffer an economic blow when their house is converted to
a grow-show.

But as any savvy investor knows, it's up to you to keep an eye on
your investment ledger and there's no one else to blame when you take a loss.

Leave the policing to the police, and let landlords pay the price for
their passivity. Good landlords know their tenants and neither want
the burden of municipally-legislated house calls.