DEL GRANDE'S GROW HOUSE PLAN MAKES SENSE

Scarborough councillor Mike Del Grande is right on the money when he
says council should use some of its expanded powers under the City of
Toronto Act to get tough on marijuana grow house operators.

While these grow operations taking place in homes in residential
neighbourhoods seem to be on a relative decline in Scarborough over
the past years, now is not the time to become complacent.

Del Grande himself, the councillor for Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt,
can take some credit for aggressively going after grow houses in his
community. He helped make life difficult for the operators, and what
was a flood of grow houses in the area three years ago has been
reduced significantly. Over the past four years, 72 grow houses were
busted in Ward 39.

After the shocking situation last year in North York in which a
number of apartment units in a building were being used as a grow
operation, it should be abundantly clear the criminals involved are
endangering the lives of law-abiding residents. If there is a grow
operation in your neighbourhood or apartment building, then your
safety is compromised - be it from other criminals, fire hazards or
structural weaknesses.

Yes, growing the drugs is illegal and operators should be arrested
and jailed for doing it. They should also face the consequences of
increasing the level of criminal activity in an area, and should be
prosecuted for any fire or building codes they break.

The criminal side belongs to the courts and the federal government,
which sets our laws, and we say the harsher the punishment the better
for grow operators.

However, the city can play a strong role when it comes to building
and fire bylaws, and that's exactly why Del Grande's call for council
to step up to the plate should be taken seriously.

First and foremost, the city should be looking after the needs of
law-abiding residents.

One relatively simple way to send a message about grow houses is to
require disclosure on a home title document that the building was
used as a drug house.

For huge criminal gangs, that's probably not a problem as losing the
value of a few houses is simply the price of doing business. But for
smaller operators, or irresponsible landlords who rent out properties
to grow house operators, the consequences could be severe.

"It sends a message to the bad guys that it's not going to be as easy
as it used to be," Del Grande explained.

It seems like a good first step, and one the city should be taking in
an effort to help residents take back their communities from these criminals.