CLOSING ALBERTA'S DRUG FACTORIES REQUIRES UNITED FRONT: ALDERMAN

Edmonton, Calgary and other Alberta municipalities must work together
on strategies to fight marijuana grow ops and illegal drug factories,
a Calgary alderman said Friday.

Staff in the province's two biggest cities are researching bylaw
changes that might be helpful in dealing with the problem. Those
considerations include restricting the sale of chemicals and equipment
used to grow marijuana indoors, Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart said
following a meeting with the Edmonton Stop Marijuana Grow Op Coalition.

"We know that organized crime knows no borders, so having our two
coalitions come at it from the north and the south is just a wonderful
example of co-ordination," said Colley-Urquhart, who chairs the Stop
Grow Ops Calgary Coalition.

Coun. Karen Leibovici, chair of the Edmonton coalition, agreed the
issue has to be looked at on a provincewide basis.

"We don't want to move the problem out of Edmonton to the surrounding
municipalities," she said.