LEGAL GROW OPS SKIP SAFETY: COPS

Drugs and vice officers approached the homes just as they would during
any other marijuana raid operation.

But after entering a home in Newmarket and another in Aurora, during
two separate raids in 2007, police were surprised to learn they
weren't more of the dozens of illegal grow labs York police shut down
every year. Instead, they were federally licenced, Health Canada
approved, medicinal marijuana grow houses.

York police did not consult Health Canada before raiding either the
Aurora or the Newmarket growing locations - which appeared no
different than other homes in the neighbourhood.

Health Canada refuses to provide York police a list of legal grow
houses in its jurisdiction, citing federal privacy law.

But a protocol has since been established requiring police to check
with the federal health ministry to determine if a property is
permitted to grow the drug.

However, the two York raids represent a tipping point for police, who
want a greater focus on public safety, while Health Canada is
obligated to protect the privacy of growers and the medicinal users,
who have the right to use marijuana.

What's more, thousands of dollars have been spent in York to dismantle
marijuana plants cultivated in excess of what licences permit and in
what some consider unsafe conditions because there appear to be no
specific, or at least, enforced, growing standards, a York Region
Media Group investigation has found.

In the past week, York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge, senior
York police investigators and prominent criminal lawyer Alan Young
have all called for changes to the way Ottawa administers the program.

In what he called the "zeal" to protect privacy, public safety has
been overlooked, Chief La Barge said.

"There needs to be a balance between privacy and community safety," he
said.

Police received an anonymous tip in March 2007 about the Aurora
home.

The licence associated with a person at the property permitted the
growing of 25 plants, however, 75 plants were found, Det.-Sgt. Dieter
Boeheim said. "The issue with gardening, in general, is plants die - I
get that. However, 75 plants is quite a bit."

In October 2007, police received another tip about a suspected growing
operation, this time in Newmarket.

Its residents were permitted to grow 74 plants, Det.-Sgt. Boeheim
said. However, police found 155 plants and three children were living
there.

The Newmarket and Aurora homes were improperly wired and a potential
fire hazard, York police said adding there are concerns a legal grow
house could be targeted by thieves.

All of the dangers associated with illegal grow operations exist with
licenced ones, Det.-Sgt. Boeheim said.

"A medical licence does not give them the licence to commit other
offences. With rights comes responsibilities," said Chief La Barge,
adding he does not object to medicinal pot.

"(Health Canada) needs to police the medical licences far closer than
they are," he said.

People authorized by Ottawa to produce or possess pot for medical
purposes are required to abide by all other applicable federal,
provincial and municipal laws, Health Canada spokesperson Philippe
Laroche said in an e-mail.

Ottawa's rules on medical pot are spelled out in the Marihuana Medical
Access Regulations, announced in 2001 under the former Liberal government.

One purpose of the regulations was to provide seriously ill people
with a means to possess and produce marijuana for medical purposes,
according to Health Canada.

Those who are ill, for whom conventional therapies are inappropriate
or ineffective and have the support of a doctor, are issued
authorization to possess on compassionate grounds.

A licence to produce limited quantities of marijuana is issued to
either the authorized person or a person who has been designated to
produce marijuana on that person's behalf, according to Health Canada.

The maximum amount of pot that can be grown is determined by the ill
person's daily amount.

As of March 6, more than 3,600 people held an authorization to possess
dried marijuana under the regulations, Mr. Laroche said.

In Ontario, 1,443 people hold an authorization to possess dried
marijuana.

Health Canada statistics, available on the ministry's website, also
indicate that as of July 4, 2008, more than 2,010 people are allowed
to grow or produce marijuana for medical purposes - 1,715 of those
hold a personal-use production licence and 302 hold a licence to
produce marijuana for other people licenced to use pot.

However, there are just 13 inspectors Canadawide, including four in
Ontario, according to Health Canada.

Inspection efforts are focused on the inspection of dealers to prevent
chemicals from getting to secret drug labs.

But Chief La Barge said there are no inspectors in Canada solely
dedicated to inspecting licenced pot-growing locations.

He wants inspectors armed with knowledge of health, electrical, fire
and municipal codes for licenced growing locations.

The lack of safety standards for growing locations also concern
Det.-Sgt. Boeheim, who would prefer medicinal pot be grown in a greenhouse.

Based on information provided by York police, total cost of
dismantling the excess plants at the Newmarket and Aurora homes is at
least $5,700. Each case required about eight hours with five police
officers and three vehicles at each site.

Having represented medicinal marijuana users, Mr. Young agrees
improvement is in order from Health Canada.

A major shortfall of the medicinal marijuana program is if a sick
person does not comply with the terms of their licence, they are
thrown back into the criminal justice system, Mr. Young said.

Taken to an extreme, there is the possibility a cancer or AIDS patient
could have their hydro cut off or their home condemned for growing one
more plant than is permitted by their licence, he noted.

"That is a conceivable scenario," he said.

He acknowledged some people in the program may be operating on a
continuous growing cycle in which some plants are raised before others
are taken down for processing.

But he also noted that if someone has 80 mature marijuana plants and
they are authorized to grow only 10, it may infer commercial
trafficking.

However, the onus should be placed on police to call Health Canada
when trying to determine if a home is a regulated growing location,
Mr. Young said.

"The solution is to contact Health Canada and work on solving this
problem - not arrest sick people," he added.

So little thought has been put into the program that Ottawa has not
properly protected ill people, he said.

"Health Canada has to have the political will to make this program
effective," he said.