GRITS CONSIDERING GROW-OP REGISTRY

Protection for Unsuspecting Buyers

TORONTO - As a new law took effect this week giving police,
municipalities and electricity companies more power to crack down on
marijuana grow houses, Ontario's community safety minister said he's
considering a central database of homes once used to make drugs.

Monte Kwinter said that he's looking into creating a provincewide
registry of residences that have been grow-ops or meth labs so
potential buyers can have inspectors look for mould and electrical or
structural damage.

"We want to make sure that nobody unsuspectingly buys a house that's
had the structure compromised because of a grow-op," said Kwinter.

Currently, homes that were used to grow marijuana can be sold without
anyone being told about their history.

Marijuana grow houses are typically filled with mould and have faulty
electrical wiring because circuits are tampered with as growers bypass
metres measuring power consumption. Meth labs can leave homes with
chemical contamination.

The registry would let buyers double check that "the property is
suitable for habitation," said Kwinter, speaking from Ottawa where he
marked the start of new provisions against grow-ops at a training camp
for emergency personnel.

As of Aug. 1, city officials became responsible for inspecting
properties that police identify as grow houses and order repairs if
the property is deemed unsafe.

A landlord or owner won't be able to sell the house or occupy it
unless the work is done.

Talk of a registry was welcomed by real estate agents.

"It would be very beneficial to us," said Dorothy Mason, president of
the Toronto Real Estate Board which represents 24,000 realtors.

Grow houses have become a problem for realtors, who have no way of
confirming for clients whether their dream home was once used to grow
pot, said Mason.

"It's hard to go on neighbours who say 'We think it was a grow house,'
" she said. "As an agent you're going Was it? Wasn't it? How can I
find this out?' You can't base it on hearsay and maybes."

Mason acknowledged that while a house known as a former grow-op could
fetch a lower selling price, the Aug. 1 provisions make sure houses
are fixed before being sold to unsuspecting people.

"It's a step in the right direction," she said. "At least you know for
sure (it's been remedied)."

Kwinter wouldn't specify a time frame for the registry's launch saying
only that ministry officials are evaluating how the registry would
work.

"I've had conversations as recently as last week on this issue, and
we're progressing along the way," he said.

The law, parts of which first went into effect last year, allows hydro
companies to cut off power to a house for the sake of safety or system
reliability. It allows the government to seize the proceeds from grow
operations for crime prevention and victim compensation.

The maximum penalties have also been doubled for fire hazards caused
by the poor wiring.

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RECENT LOCAL BUSTS

- - July 19, 2006 - A house at 15240 Scott Line in Muirkirk was the
location of one of Chatham-Kent's largest marijuana-grow operations. A
search of the house turned up 1,441 marijuana plants with an estimated
street value of $1.4 million.

- - May 18, 2006 - A Windsor man's home in the 500 block of Watkins
Street was the location of a large grow-op with more than 400
marijuana plants. Police estimated the value of the drugs at $498,000.

- - Apr. 7, 2005 - Windsor police raided an east-end home and busted a
marijuana grow-op worth more than $400,000. Police discovered 355
marijuana plants growing at 3076 Brimley Cres. and 946 grams of loose
marijuana.

- - Apr. 4, 2005 - Windsor police raided the basement of a home in the
5000 block of Colbourne Drive and discovered 316 marijuana plants
worth an estimated street value of $353,920.

- - Nov. 22, 2005 - Windsor police arrested a local man after uncovering
a marijuana-growing operation totalling about $390,000 in street value
in the 400 block of Curry Avenue.