GROW OPS CAN CROP UP ANYWHERE

Local Drayton Valley residents and RCMP were on hand at the curling
club to hear an Edmonton RCMP Green Team officer share some
first-hand knowledge of marijuana grow-ops.

Const. Ian Gillan, a near 20-year veteran who has gone undercover for
drug raids and even bought meth and crack-cocaine in Drayton Valley,
taught how to spot the telltale signs of a grow-op and the effects
they have on people and communities.

"They are the economic engine of organized crime," Gillan said about
grow-ops adding that, just the night before, they had busted four
operations in Edmonton.

Gillan said he doesn't preach on the morality of marijuana use but
based on his experience, all hard drug users started out with
marijuana or alcohol.

"I believe 100 per cent it is a gateway drug," he said while
recognizing its prevalent use. "Our best guess isapproximately 25 to
30 per cent of the population you could sell marijuana to."

He added that marijuana has increased in potency over the years. In
the seventies, marijuana coming from Mexico would have around four
per cent THC, the hallucinogenic ingredient in marijuana. Nowadays,
THC content can be anywhere from 12 to 18 per cent with new growing
methods like aeroponics, a technique pioneered for growing plants in
space.

Gillan and his team have busted grow-ops on personal farms, upscale
houses and even in commercial buildings. He said they found an
operation running out of a warehouse in the middle of downtown
Edmonton next to Grant MacEwan College. One expensive house that
contained a grow-op had a koi pond and a rock garden in the yard.

Real estate agent Heather Malin came to the seminar to learn about
the effects indoor grow-ops have on houses.

"It's very important in our industry that we serve the public
properly with selling homes," Malin said, adding she was shocked to
learn how common products can be made into illegal drugs.

Gillan said often houses used for indoor grow-ops go undetected and
then are put back on the market as the drug-growers move on to a new
spot. They slap a coat of paint over mildew infested walls and
shoddily patch up cracked foundation for the next person to deal with.

The growers "fake nature in their basement" by giving plants 12 hours
of lamp light then 12 hours of dark to simulate spring. Then they
adjust light time accordingly to simulate summer and fall to induce
the plant to flower. Because carbon dioxide feeds the plants, the
growers flood the rooms with the gas making the house a major health
risk for anyone in the vicinity. Add in the moisture from the
hydroponic setups commonly used and you get a mildew infested mess.
And it's not hard for them to stock up on supplies, either.

"You can go on the Internet and buy any of this stuff," Gillian said.
"It's all available."