GREEN AND LEGAL

Feds Won't Tell Grow-Op Busters Who's Got A Licence

It's a budding problem cops wish they could weed out.

Officers with the Edmonton Police Service-RCMP Green Team are
occasionally raiding marijuana grow-ops that turn out to be operated
by growers licensed by the federal government to cultivate pot for
medicinal reasons.

Green Team Det. Clayton Sach wants Health Canada to provide police
with a list of government-sanctioned grow ops.

However, he said, he understands the government's fear of such a
list somehow getting into the wrong hands, as legitimate grow-ops
would be a target for criminals.

Health Canada spokesman Jirina Vlk says releasing a list of legal
pot growers is not possible for privacy reasons.

Under strict regulations, Health Canada may provide some information
to police, but only under specific circumstances, Vlk added.

"For example, when they are undertaking an investigation, or when
they make an arrest and want to verify the legitimacy of an
authorization to possess," she told the Sun.

But even then, the confirmation - following a call to a Health
Canada pager number - is only made verbally.

When police ask for the paperwork to be faxed, they are denied, Sach said.

Legal growers are issued a laminated card along with a certificate,
which they often post on their grow op, Sach said.

As of September, 1,492 Canadians were authorized to possess
marijuana for medical purposes - including 142 Albertans, according
to Health Canada.

Of those, 1,061 were allowed to cultivate or produce marijuana for
medical purposes. Health Canada couldn't provide a provincial
breakdown of authorized growers.

When a pot raid turns out to be a bust, it's a waste of valuable
police resources and time.

But Sach said detectives usually realize they're barking up the
wrong tree just a few hours into an investigation.

He added the Green Team has run into legit grow ops "maybe four or
five times in the last couple of years."

Eric Nash, a 47-year-old certified pot grower in B.C., said he's
never had police kick in his door, but he sympathizes with others
who have had to contend with cops.

"It's unfair to those in the Health Canada program that are growing
for medical purposes," he said, adding he doesn't see any solution
to the problem.

Among the occasional legal grow-ops that police bust, some of the
plant allowances seem to be "excessive," Sach noted.

Nash, who, along with his wife, grows 45 plants for two clients,
said Health Canada allows five plants for every gram of marijuana a
person is permitted to smoke per day.

So if someone is allowed three grams daily, then they can have 15
plants, Nash explained.