AMEND SEARCH POWERS

A Speedy Narcotic Inspection Warrant Should Be Introduced To Allow
Police To Enter Every Apartment

Re: Health main concern in grow-op building, Nov. 26.

In our current system, police have to go through sometimes lengthy
procedures to get search warrants in order to check out a suspected
grow-op. Apartment landlords have to give 24 hours notice to enter an
apartment (i.e. 24 hours for the growers to move the plants somewhere
else). This is no match for the now-sophisticated grow-ops they are
dealing with.

The law should be amended to allow police to do quick inspections of
apartments, in a systemic manner. A speedy narcotic inspection
warrant should be introduced that will allow police to enter each
apartment of a given building and take a quick look.

Very often that is all you need to tell if there is grow-op in the
apartment. Under such a warrant, the police are not allowed to touch
anything else, such as documents or other property.

Landlords are legally required to open the door using their master
keys if no one answers the door. In this way, a group of officers can
go through a whole building in a day. To me, this is the most
effective way to root out the plague.

If I were a tenant in one of the buildings, I would happily lose this
tiny bit of privacy, rather than having someone growing pot next door.

Tim Lu

Toronto