UNFAIR BYLAW

Langley City's New Pot-Fighting Bylaw May Be In For A Bumpy Ride.

Dear Editor,

The bylaw which City council is presently working on which makes the
landlord responsible for the damage caused by a tenant is both unfair and
dangerous. It reminds me of speed bumps.

A very large majority of us have to suffer because it is more convenient
for the police and the city to install speed bumps than catch the very
small minority of drivers responsible for speeding through parking lots and
isolated roads.

Rather than going after those who are responsible, we continue to spend
more and more time and money installing speed bumps.

Is it fair that police and city charge a landlord to make his or her
dwelling safe to inhabit when the landlord is not responsible for making it
unsafe?

The individual who started the grow operation is responsible for making the
dwelling unsafe, why don't the police and city go after the individuals
responsible?

Just because it is more convenient or easier does not make it fair or just.

When are we going to make those who are responsible start paying for the
damage and inconvenience they cause?

It is very obvious that the penalty for starting a grow operation is not
severe enough. Are the police and city trying to do anything about this?

Do the police track those who are responsible for these grow operations to
determine if they continue to live in Langley?

This bylaw will not only make it more time consuming for landlords to
constantly police their rented dwelling, but will also place them in
greater personal risk.

I wonder how many landlords will be injured or even killed as a result of
this bylaw. If a landlord discovers a grow operation, what are their
chances of getting out alive when the crop is worth millions of dollars?

Do councillors know how many landlords are seniors? I wonder how many folk
will be forced to move out of Langley because they will not be able to find
a dwelling to rent when landlords decide they would rather sell their
dwelling than put up with an unfair and dangerous bylaw.

Perhaps some of the folks who will be forced to move will be the relatives
of the police and councillors responsible for this bylaw.

Ron Shalley Langley

Editor: There are no easy answers. Whatever individual feelings may be
about smoking marijuana, either for medicinal or recreational purposes,
growing the stuff is illegal, especially when the agricultural efforts are
pursued at the expense of others. Sometimes the costs are paid in pure
violence. Of particular concern to those who enact and enforce laws and
bylaws should be the writer's point about the danger a landlord could face
by attempting to follow the letter of the law. No other members of society,
other than trained personnel such as police, are expected to confront such
potentially violent situations knowingly.