GROW OP HOMES MAY SOON BE LISTED ON INTERNET

Calgary homebuyers may soon be able to consult a website to find out
if their dream home hides nightmarish defects from a previous life
housing a marijuana grow operation.

Calgary Health Region spokeswoman Vicki Wearmouth said she would like
to see all grow operation-related health orders, both active and
inactive, filed on the public health website so buyers can check to
see if a house was once a weed factory.

Wearmouth has been giving the Calgary Real Estate Board the addresses
of all drug-related cases she's been involved with.

Mouldy walls, chemical and electrical contamination and structural
damage are just some of the problems found in former marijuana grow
operation houses.

At a meeting of the Stop Grow Ops Calgary Coalition, made up of 44
stakeholder groups, Wearmouth showed photos of an extreme example of
mould growth covering the walls of an 11-month-old grow op home.

When grow ops are discovered, the health region usually posts an
"unfit for human habitation" sign on the door of the house, due to
chemical contamination and because often the furnace and hot water
tank are disconnected.

She said many grow operations are not properly remediated.

"It's not just the mould issues, it's the chemical contamination everywhere."

Wearmouth said the marijuana plants are sprayed with hazardous
chemicals that can eat through carpet.

It costs a minimum of $35,000 to repair these homes, says Ald. Diane
Colley-Urquhart, a member of the coalition.

The external indicator of a grow op house is moisture, which creates
mould within the walls, but also hidden problems in attics and fireplaces.

"We're calling these neighbourhood drug factories," Colley-Urquhart
said. "It's important that we regulate these with a bylaw."

The motion to create a bylaw was unanimously passed June 12.

Calgary has researched bylaws in other jurisdictions, but must
customize a bylaw to fit Alberta's Municipal Government Act.
Colley-Urquhart said it could take six to eight months for findings
to be compiled by as many as seven city departments.

"We are having a made-in-Calgary solution," Colley-Urquhart said.

The Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team -- made up of
Calgary police and the RCMP -- seized nearly 60,000 marijuana plants
worth an estimated $68 million last year.

Tariq Amin, of the city building regulations department, said he
works with the health region and police to get information about the
properties.

"Without an air quality report, we won't allow anybody on the site,"
Amin said. "They have to do all the work before they can use the house."

He said if contractors finish the cleanup and it doesn't meet the
health region's requirements, the home will be reassessed and cleaned again.