NEW WEST HAS NEW WEAPON IN DRUG FIGHT

New Westminster city hall now has a new tool for cracking down on
marijuana grow operations and drug houses in the city.

On Monday, council gave approval in principle to a bylaw prohibiting
a property being used for "the trade, manufacture, injestion, use,
sharing, trade or barter of controlled substances."

While police and health authorities will continue to enforce federal
drug and health laws, the city bylaw now enables police and other
city departments to address the nuisance behaviours associated with
properties used as grow operations, crack houses and methamphetamine
labs, said New Westminster police Insp. Dave Jones. Those include
issues dealing with safety, environmental hazards, and behavioural
nuisances, such as people coming and going at all hours of the night.
The bylaw would make both the owners and occupants of the properties
responsible.

Jones noted that when police shut down a grow operation, they now do
so wearing respirators because of the adverse physical reactions
officers can have in such a hazardous environment.

"Their activity affects the livability of neighbourhoods," said Mayor
Helen Sparkes of such culprits. "They're holding neighbourhoods
hostage all day and night with comings and goings."

In the past, police have always focused on the drug dealers and not
on the addicts, Sparkes said. This bylaw is an attempt to address the
addicts' behaviour by making the owner or tenant of the house where
it's happening responsible for it.

Jones said that addicts needing repeated fixes eventually start
hanging out in the areas where they get their drugs and those
neighbourhoods tend to see an increase in crime. "That is a risk. No
neighbourhood needs that."

The bylaw now defines the prohibited nuisance behaviours which city
staff and police are addressing. He stressed, however, that the bylaw
does not allow police to enter homes without search warrants.

Jones said police would deal with complaints about drug houses and
grow ops by conducting criminal investigations. Once the evidence is
in place, police would share its information with other city
departments, such as fire, health and engineering, which would then
work to alleviate the nuisance problems.

Marijuana grow operations often pose a fire and safety hazard because
of the need to steal large volumes of electricity. In an attempt to
avoid detection, the grow operators usually bypass the electrical
meters, with the work done by people who are not trained electricians.

If a property is identified as being used for the production, sale or
use of narcotics, city hall can cut off its electricity, water or
natural gas. Those utilities won't be reconnected until authorized
repairs are made, the necessary inspections passed and fines are paid.

Violations are subject to fines against the owner or occupier of up
to $5,000. Each day the offence is continued becomes a separate,
additional offence. "Special inspections" will cost $400 each, with
each inspection prior to issuance of an occupancy permit costing $300
and each occupancy permit $250.

If the owner or occupant fails to comply with the bylaw upon written
notice, the city may enter the property and fix the problems at the
expense of the owner or occupant. Every person who allows a property
to "become or remain a place for the trade, business or manufacture
of a controlled substance" will be liable for the costs incurred by
New Westminster police in shutting down the grow op or drug house,
the bylaw said. Any costs which are not paid will be added onto the
owners' property taxes.

The bylaw follows a similar one passed recently in Surrey and one
that is pending in Langley.

It is "unclear" whether New Westminster's bylaw gives police or city
staff unreasonable search powers, but the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association still has some concerns, says its policy director, Garth
Barriere.

The municipality appears to be overstepping its authority, Barriere
said. For instance, the bylaw addresses properties which are used for
the "injestion" of narcotics, something the federal government has
not deemed a criminal offence outside of prisons. Possession of a
controlled substance is illegal, but the use of it is not. A person
smoking marijuana recreationally, or cocaine addicts using the drug
in their apartments "are now subject to the entire course of this
bylaw.

"It seems to be saying the mere injestion creates a situation where
the state can go in and say, 'you can't occupy this suite anymore.'"
Barriere acknowledged there are concerns around health and safety
from grow operations. "These bylaws are trying to deal with a
situation which deserves attention, but they're going at it in a way
that's problematic."