SOME OF THOSE CHARMING HOMES HAVE GONE TO POT

Be careful - that charming little split-level in Terrebonne (or St.
Constant or Greenfield Park) you're thinking of buying, the one with
the nice double garage and well-groomed shrubs, might be less
innocent than it appears. The previous owners might have used it to
raise not a family but a very lucrative crop of marijuana, and that
could mean major trouble for you down the road.

This is no isolated problem. The Association des courtiers et agents
immobliers du Quebec, the professional group that represents
real-estate brokers and agents, says that thousands of perfectly
ordinary-looking homes across the province were once used to raise cannabis.

Right now, the real estate association is about the only protection
home buyers have, other than hiring a good inspector. The association
says its members are ethically obliged to reveal to buyers anything
they know about a property that could affect its value or safety.

Keeping mum about marijuana production would certainly violate that
principle. Indoor grow-ops are typically hydroponic operations, which
means lots of high-powered lamps and lots of water. The result is
often unsafe wiring, structural damage, and mold infestations that
are difficult, sometimes impossible, to eradicate. Repairs are often
expensive and sometimes the damage is so severe the only solution is
to tear the place down and rebuild.

To its credit, the ACAIQ has been tackling the problem with some
vigour. Ten months ago it sponsored a major grow-op seminar in
Boucherville that brought together home inspectors, police
departments, public-health officials and real estate agents and
brokers. It has also held education sessions for agents across the province.

More recently it showed its teeth by hauling two Montreal-area agents
up before its disciplinary board on charges that they'd failed to
tell prospective buyers that what they were getting was more a
plantation than a home. That's a good sign of serious intent, but the
comments of one busted agent were hardly reassuring. It was unfair to
single her out, she whined, because plenty of other agents had done
the same thing and got away with it. That might just have been so
much self-serving hot air, but all the same, it's a sobering thought.

Home buyers deserve a little more protection than the ACAIQ can
offer. Ontario's community safety minister, Monte Kwinter, recently
proposed an idea that would be worth considering here - a central
database of homes that have been used to make or grow drugs. That
would certainly make life easier for both buyers and agents.

This problem is not going to go away any time soon. The demand for
marijuana shows no sign of abating, and as long as there's a demand,
someone's going to try to meet it. Until Canada overhauls its
antiquated and irrational marijuana laws the situation is unlikely to change.

In the meantime, forewarned is forearmed. If you're looking for a
home, hire a good inspector before you buy anything. And don't fall
for that I'm-just-an-innocent-split-level look.