GROW-OP NUMBERS FALLING, SAYS CITY COUNCILLOR

Chilliwack seems to be winning the battle against marijuana
grow-operations, with only 30 busted by police in 2007 compared to the
177 in 2000.

That was the year a UCFV study reported Chilliwack had the
second-highest rate per capita of grow-operations in the province,
which sparked a move by city and police officials to beef up
anti-grow-op measures.

"At first blush it looks like we're doing very well," Coun. Sharon
Gaetz said, about the city's battle to recover from that low point in
2000.

Although the statistics look good, the drive to stamp out grow-ops may
have simply pushed them into more the remote reaches of Chilliwack's
outlying areas.

"We may have picked all of the low-hanging fruit," said Gaetz, who
chairs the city's public safety advisory committee. There are fewer
calls to police reporting suspected grow-ops, she added, but it's not
clear whether that's because the operators have given up - or just got
smarter about where to locate their grows.

However, police officials also believe the number of grow-ops is truly
dropping.

"We all feel it's going down," said Const. Lea-Anne Dunlop. The fewer
calls made to police about grow-ops, she said, "would lead you to
believe we are having an impact."

Police and city efforts to inform area residents about how to spot a
grow-op seem to have paid off and public awareness is "quite high,"
she added.

According to city statistics, the reported number of grow-ops have
been steadily dropping: 62 busted in 2005; 50 in 2006; 30 in 2007; and
three so far this year.

On Friday, police busted a grow-op in the 45300-block of Vedder
Mountain Road after receiving an anonymous tip in late December.

After police gathered enough evidence to obtain a warrant, a search of
the property uncovered 30 marijuana plants, 10 pounds of marijuana
"shake" and about five pounds of freshly-harvested dried marijuana.

One male unidentified by police was arrested and released on a promise
to attend court at a later date.