WAR ON DRUGS A GROUP EFFORT

Education Seen As Key To Initiative

In an effort to weed out the masterminds of Calgary's illegal
narcotics industry, police are distributing thousands of pamphlets to
residents on how to spot drug factories in their communities.

The literature, including material on methamphetamine and marijuana
grow ops, will be distributed before the end of the year in monthly
Enmax bills, said Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart.

"The key is that these (drugs) are inextricably linked," she
said.

The initiative was announced early Tuesday at the inaugural meeting of
the Stop Marijuana Grow Ops steering committee.

Police, local politicians, real estate agents and health officials
were among the various stakeholders at the meeting, spearheaded by
Colley-Urquhart.

The group has decided to band together to tackle the booming marijuana
grow op problem.

It's a co-ordinated action plan for a fight no one agency can win on
its own, police said.

"It's clear this problem is bigger than any one agency," said Staff
Sgt. Trevor Daroux of the Calgary police drug unit. "Everyone can play
a part."

Future initiatives could include new bylaws and increased co-operation
between banks and police to quell mortgage fraud, he said.

"We'd like to use various forms of legislative means to address this
situation," said Daroux.

Creating rules and regulations pertaining to unoccupied houses, and
mandatory home inspections, will be considered, said bylaw services
manager Bill Bruce.

Tuesday's round-table discussion highlighted the need for
organizations to take away the opportunity for people to purchase and
finance homes that eventually are used as weed farms.

Training certain city workers, such as trash collectors, to spot the
signs of houses manufacturing drugs was also floated as a potential
addition to the committee's arsenal.

"It's time we start playing hardball. This is the killing fields, and
Calgary is a joke," said local realtor and broker Ted Zaharko of the
ongoing mortgage fraud problem.

The Canadian Bankers Association said it will co-operate with police,
but it's limited by federal privacy laws.

"We quite often participate in (steering committees) . . . but there's
only so much we can give," said association spokeswoman Maura Drew-Lytle.

The vast majority of people who are committing mortgage fraud "stay
under the radar," she said.

Police have seized more than $71 million in marijuana from 179 illegal
grow operations since January.

Crime Stoppers has received 840 tips from the public this year about
suspected marijuana grow houses. Of these, 423 have yet to be
investigated due to limited policing resources.

The Stop MGOs group will present its findings to the city's standing
policy committee on community and protective services by February.