BUSTING GROW OPS JUST A REVENUE-MAKER FOR CITY

The Editor,

Re: "City cracks down on drug houses," The Now, June 13.

It does not take a mathematician to figure out that if every busted grow
up in Surrey garnered a $7,500 "bounty" in favour of the city's general
coffers, at a rate of less than 10 drug busts a day, this means an
approximate $25 million source of new revenue.

This is nothing more than a shameful tax grab. What is more offensive is
that it attempts to penalize the victim, not the wrongdoer, which is
similar to the ridiculous anti-graffiti bylaw.

Further, such a measure does nothing to prevent grow ops from existing,
and once busted, simply means the operation moves to either a different
location within the city or perhaps a different municipality where
landlords are encouraged to uphold the basic common-law rule of quiet
enjoyment in favour of their tenants. By imposing fines per bust, the
city is simply licensing grow operations, which in turn will encourage
larger scale and more probable ensuing damage and destruction of the
premises in order to maintain the viability and profitability of this
otherwise illicit business.

It seems to me other municipalities have been down this same road when
attempting to charge atrociously higher rates for body rub parlours as
opposed to their more legitimate counterparts, registered massage
therapists.

If the City of Surrey was really interested in crime, it would focus on
prevention and not penalizing, fining or prosecuting innocent victims of
these crimes.

However, my guess is that the prospect of an easy $20 to $25 million in
new revenue is simply too tantalizing to pass by and surely there will
be endless rhetoric from council members who support this notion.

Dean Neumann,
White Rock