MARIJUANA GROW-OPS TARGETED

Legislation permitting B.C. Hydro to furnish information on residential
customers using suspiciously high amounts of electricity is likely to be
introduced next spring to aid municipalities seeking to stamp out
marijuana-growing operations.

Each year, police in the province receive more than 5,000 tips about indoor
growing operations, but manpower limitations allow them to only check about
2,000.

Kristina Stevens, director of safety policy and liaison with the Ministry
of Housing, told delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities' convention
in Vancouver Tuesday that the ministry wants to help municipalities combat
the proliferation of growing operations through bylaw enforcement based on
techniques used this year by Surrey and Abbotsford.

Stevens said one of the major dangers posed by growing operations is
electrical fires caused by faulty and illegal wiring, but under the Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, B.C. Hydro is unable to
provide information about customers' high (or low) use of electricity
unless the information is sought by police as part of a criminal investigation.

"What we will do is seek to remove this from the act," said Stevens.

This would enable municipalities to ask for lists of hydro consumers whose
consumption of electricity is out of the ordinary.

In Surrey and Abbotsford, teams from the fire department and bylaw
inspection department targeted hundreds of residences that had been
identified by tips as possible growing operations to ensure the buildings
met electrical and safety standards.

The Surrey team found dozens of homes that had dangerous wiring as a result
of hosting or having hosted marijuana growing operations.

"Twenty-eight residences contained 49 children and seven residences didn't
contain marijuana operations but had secondary suites with unsafe wiring,"
said fire chief Len Garis.

"In all, 94 per cent of the locations dealt with under the system were
accurate in having electrical safety issues," he said.

In Surrey special teams from the fire department and bylaw inspection
department targeted hundreds of residences identified by tipsters as
possible grow ops.

119

were found to have faulty electrical installations

78

had their power terminated, as they were former grow ops

30

homes had their hydro bypassed

11

locations were given seven-day notice to comply with bylaws

Source: Surrey Fire Department, Vancouver Sun