UNWARRANTED INTRUSION

Illegal marijuana grow houses have become a considerable problem for law
enforcement agencies in Canada, including right here in Ottawa-Gatineau.
But as the Ontario Court of Appeal rightly ruled this week, the solution to
that problem isn't to give police additional investigative powers that
violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Police believe there could be as many as 200 homes in our area used
exclusively to grow marijuana for export. These homes often steal thousands
of dollars worth of hydro, and pose a fire hazard because of the banks of
lights used in the growing operation. As such, it's right for the
authorities to try to shut them down.

But the tools police want to use without having to obtain a search warrant
- -- such things as having access to hydro company records to watch for
excessive electricity use or using infrared cameras to hunt for abnormally
warm houses -- go beyond what is reasonable in a democratic country such as
Canada. Police had argued the cameras were just another surveillance tool,
like binoculars.

But the court didn't buy that, noting the cameras, unlike binoculars, could
observe what goes on behind closed doors. That means police need a search
warrant to use them.

Of course, there's a simple way to shut down grow houses that wouldn't
violate the Constitution: Lift the prohibition on marijuana -- as the
government has said it might do -- so growers don't have to operate outside
the law.