'THEY'RE KILLING US'

The threat of home invasions by people looking for drugs and drug
money is just one of the ways the drug culture is hurting the
community, a Coquitlam councillor said Monday.

"Plain and simple, they are murderers," said Coun. Mae Reid. "They are
totally murdering our community."

Coquitlam ranks third in B.C. for the number of marijuana grow
operations, after Surrey and Vancouver, with 297 busted in 2003,
according to a study released by the University College of the Fraser
Valley.

Council supported a motion by Coun. Louella Hollington for legislation
to compel BC Hydro to report unusually high power consumption to
police. "This is not to help police identify where the grow operations
are but to help police obtain search warrants," Hollington said. She
said police have to obtain a search warrant to access BC Hydro power
consumption records and to pay for clerk costs to retrieve records.

BC Hydro denies it charges police for record searches. "We don't
charge the RCMP fees for processing grow op requests," said Elisha
Moreno, BC Hydro media relations manager. "They are submitted to the
[Freedom of Information] clerks and we incur costs but because the
clerks already work for BC Hydro, they are absorbed as business costs."

There may be a dispute about money but there is general agreement that
power consumption is one of the hammers available to reduce grow ops.

Coun. Diane Thorne noted that it's easy to spot pot farms when it
snows because heat generated from the high-power lights exits through
the roof. "When it snows, you look over Westwood Plateau and you know
where the grow ops are," she said.

Mayor Jon Kingsbury said the power company should be afforded legal
protection and given the authority to shut power off, which would kill
plants "but they can't do it because there could be children in the
house."

A three-month pilot project in Surrey is underway to see how power
consumption can be used to nail criminal farmers.

Under the program, if a residence is suspected as being a grow op -
with factors such as showing high power usage without an explanation
such as a swimming pool, hot tub or workshop - city workers will post
a notice that power will be turned off in 72 hours unless the resident
contacts BC Hydro. It may not result in arrests but the action is
expected to disrupt growers and move them out of the community.