GROWHOUSE REGISTRY EN ROUTE

Buyers Will Soon Be Able to Trace a Home's History
Online

Buyers worried about unknowingly purchasing a former marijuana
growhouse will soon be able to trace a home's history on a website
briefly unveiled by the Calgary Health Region on Friday.

The health region released a list of city homes hit with executive
orders for running drug operations on its environmental health
website as a tool for prospective owners unsure if their dream home
has a checkered past.

The list of 108 houses, along with executive orders that name the
former owners responsible for the cleanup, was unveiled on the
website yesterday (FRI) before being taken down to address some
lingering legal questions.

Robert Bradbury, director of health protection for the CHR, said
"somebody jumped the gun," by posting the orders before a full legal
review was finished but the registry will soon return, perhaps by the
end of the month.

"We're just making it easier and more transparent to find this
information," Bradbury said, noting houses busted for illicit drug
purposes can be checked by the public at the CHR's downtown headquarters.

"This way people can decide if they want to buy that house that was
formerly a grow-op and is being remediated."

The online registry lists 83 homes that have been hit with clean-up
orders and 25 more that have met the requirements in the CHR's
executive health orders.

Based on Calgary's red-hot housing market, the value of the dubious
properties is around $40 million.

Bradbury said former grow-ops could present a number of potential
health concerns due to mold, fire hazards, chemicals and venting.

He said the CHR will keep the database in place so homebuyers can
check back over the years to see if a house was used as a drug operation.

"Five years from now they can look back and see if that house was a
grow-op," he said.

"It's long overdue and we're probably the first agency in Canada to do this."

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, who chairs the Stop Marijuana Grow-op
Coalition, said the registry is a welcome resource for homebuyers who
want to make a safe purchase.

"This is a significant step forward in the fight against
neighbourhood drug factories," she said.

"Now it's buyer beware - if you don't want to buy that property that
was a former grow-op, you'll know about it."

The Ward 13 alderman will be providing a link to the CHR registry on
her own website when it returns.