CITY 'NOT FRIENDLY' TO GROW-OPS

Police and municipal officials say new city regulations now mean the city
is no pot grower's paradise.

Officials made the comments after a study, released this week by a Lower
Mainland criminologist, found the number of grow-ops in nearly every B.C.
community has exploded beyond the ability of police to control the problem.

City of Nanaimo regulations, enacted earlier this year, force landlords to
be sure they are not renting to pot growers. Any premises found used for
growing marijuana must go through a rigourous, and often expensive, process
before it can be reoccupied.

The city shuts off all services and revokes the occupancy permit once a
growing operation is found. A building permit must be obtained from the
city before undertaking repairs.

When the work is complete, the building must be certified free of potential
health problems to obtain a new occupancy permit. The city will also
register a bylaw infraction on the land title, which may make the property
difficult to sell, insure or mortgage.

"We're quite happy with it, it's going very well," said Andy Laidlaw, City
of Nanaimo manager of community services.

The chief of the Nanaimo RCMP, Supt. Bud Bechdholt, thinks the changes may
be preventing the pot growing problem from getting worse.

"We've got the city to thank," he said. "It was overwhelming us, we needed
some help."

Like police all over B.C., Nanaimo RCMP have been unable to respond with
adequate resources to take down growing operations, said Bechdholt.

The number of pot growing operations in Nanaimo in 2001 was estimated at
between 500 and 750.

Neither Laidlaw nor Bechdholt could provide numbers to show a decline, but
they are firm that the new city process is only making it harder for
growers to find indoor locations.

"We don't know what was out there to start with," said Laidlaw. "What we do
know is it has become a lot more expensive for people who abuse homes this
way. We've really tried to create an unfriendly atmosphere for people doing
this."

Bechdholt is also convinced Nanaimo has become a tougher place to grow pot.

"What it comes down to is growers are having a more difficult time finding
rental properties," he said.

Laidlaw said that reputation is getting out. "If somebody's interested in
doing a grow operation and looking at places to do it, Nanaimo's not a
friendly place."