FORMER DRUG HOUSE NO PLACE TO CALL HOME

When Robin Stacey and her family moved into a rented house in Kelowna
last August, no one noticed the putrid air because the windows were
wide open.

The landlord kept the air flowing to conceal the mould and
contaminants spawned by a marijuana grow-op in the basement. The
plants and equipment were gone, but the condensation blackened the
insulation and stained the walls, which filled the house interior with
airborne fungi.

When the cool nights prompted the family to shut the windows, Stacey's
teenage kids started complaining of runny noses. Her husband suffered
headaches. A boarder living with them woke up gagging.

"We felt gross. Our energy was low. You don't feel like doing
anything. You couldn't sleep well at night," Stacey said.

No matter how much she cleaned the walls, floors and carpets, the
stench lingered "like musty, dirty socks." On top of that, the kitchen
lights didn't work and the furnace wasn't operating. The previous
tenants had disconnected the wiring.

An electrician who came over to repair the clutter discovered a room
downstairs had contained marijuana plants. A padlock latch was still
on the steel door. The room was specially wired to power the grow
lights. It smelled like pot.

Inside the plywood walls was insulation clogged with mould. The family
threw some of it outside and sprayed it with mildew cleaner. It still
stunk.

They realized last month the house was making them sick. They were
paying $1,800 a month and had put down a $900 damage deposit. Despite
the shortage of housing in Kelowna, they walked away and kissed the
deposit goodbye.

"If you could see it, you'd say this place needs to be plowed under,"
Stacey said. "The place is a mess. . . . We need to get it shut down."

The City of Kelowna has closed 85 homes associated with grow-ops in
the past 18 months. A 2005 bylaw gives officers the authority to turn
off the power and deem a house uninhabitable once police conclude it
was used to produce marijuana or methamphetamines. They consider the
home too unhealthy to live in.

Stacey complained to the city about her house, but bylaw officials
told her they could do nothing because police hadn't found a grow-op
at that address. Without a criminal record, the city's hands are tied.

"Many grow-ops come and go without being busted," said Ron Dickinson,
the city's manager of inspection services. "We can't come in and
inspect it based on (someone's) suspicions."

If realtors are aware a home was used for illegal drug production,
they're obliged to inform prospective buyers. For landlords, the law
is less precise. Still, if they rent to the wrong tenants, they face
clean-up costs of up to $20,000 before the city allows new tenants to
move in.

In Stacey's case, the previous tenants apparently harvested their
plants and packed up their grow-op equipment without getting caught.
But the house, located near Belgo and Springfield roads, is rife with
airborne contaminants that make people sick.

"We don't have what I call mould police," said Craig Hostland, who
inspects homes for toxic moulds and mildews on behalf of Healthy Homes
Indoor Air Quality. "If drugs are produced on site . . . the landlord
could paint the walls, send in Molly Maid, clean the floor and rent
out the house again."

The trouble is the air inside the house may still contain microscopic
debris like stachybotrys, a mould associated with water-damaged
building materials that can kill babies and people with weak immune
systems. With so much money to be made growing pot, more criminals are
risking people's health by polluting the air in rented homes.

Const. Ken Rymer has raided scores of indoor grow-ops as a member of
the RCMP's drug section in the Central Okanagan - 25 warrants in one
month alone last year. He and his colleagues wear breathing apparatus
and safety glasses because the air inside the homes can be so foul.

"They're gross," he said. "Many years ago, I was in them without a
mask. Guys were getting sick. You come out and you feel terrible."

Hundreds of marijuana grows are believed to be operating in the
Okanagan. Rymer recommends homebuyers and tenants hire a home
inspector to check out a place before they move in. They can also
protect themselves by having a landlord sign a document declaring the
home hasn't been used for drug production.

"Get disclosure," said RCMP Const. Steve Holmes. "If need be, have it
signed and witnessed by a notary so it's actionable in court."

If a landlord refuses to co-operate, he or she may be hiding
something. That's your cue to move on, said Holmes.

In Vernon, landlords can get rid of undesirable tenants by complaining
to the bylaw department, said Hostland. An officer can apply a city
bylaw to evict them if he finds a joint or even cigarette papers, he
said.

"Then the landlord is caught in a web. The environment has to be
tested for health-related issues. . . . It can be $2,000, $10,000 or
more to clean."

However, municipalities have limited authority to regulate illegal
drugs or anything related to criminal law. Because growing marijuana
is a criminal offence, cities can only enforce bylaws pertaining to
air quality, structure and electricity.

Municipal staff in Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton have recommended all
three cities adopt the same bylaw to reflect recent court decisions,
said Dickinson. Once the law is rewritten, all three municipalities
should endorse it by early next year, he said.

Meanwhile, the Stacey family has found a new home. Everyone can
breathe at night and feels much healthier, she said.

Still, it bothers her that another tenant has moved into the sick
house.

"I just want that place condemned," she said.