REALTORS WANT GUIDELINES FOR DRUG HOUSES

Realtors are lobbying the provincial government to adopt standards for
cleaning up houses used to grow or manufacture drugs.

In a recent report, the Alberta Real Estate Association released
guidelines from commissioned experts for air quality in former drug
houses.

"We identified the fact that there was no standard anywhere in the
province or anywhere in Canada, for that matter, to remediate the air
quality," said Bill Fowler, the association's director of industry and
government relations.

"Typically these homes have all sorts of problems associated with
them."

The added humidity from growing marijuana plants or cooking
methamphetamine often creates mould in the home that can have serious
impacts on health.

Medicine Hat realtor Ellen Baba says in many cases, real estate agents
have no way of determining if drugs were produced in the home they are
selling.

"There have been people in Medicine Hat who have purchased homes where
there were grow-ops and if we don't know, we're not serving our
clients correctly," Baba said. "There definitely should be
guidelines."

The real estate association wants the province to require
certification that homes used in drug operations have been adequately
reclaimed before they are sold on the market.