MEDICINAL GROW-OP GETS RAIDED

RCMP raided a medical marijuana grow-op on May 27, seizing 1,744 pot
plants.

The bust occurred in the 12200 block of Skillen Street as the result
of a four-month investigation. Police say a resident in the home had a
licence from Health Canada to grow pot for medicinal purposes, but the
licence was for "a significantly fewer amount of plants."

Inspector Derren Lench said he believes this is the first case where
local RCMP has seized marijuana from a grow-op where someone has a
licence to grow it legally.

"There were about 1,600 more (marijuana plants) than they should have
had," he said.

"We have no interest if it's a legal grow-op and they're abiding by
(regulations) as it's laid out by Health Canada. We'd have no interest
in even being in there but when it's obvious that that's really just a
smokescreen for the illegal why wouldn't we go in there? All that's
happening is they are using that regulatory scheme through Health
Canada to justify their illegal actions. It just becomes an illegal
grow op like the rest of them."

Lench said it's difficult for police to deal with medicinal pot
grow-ops where too many plants are grown "because of that Health
Canada licence it's very difficult to get a search warrant to get in
there. We'll know there's a Health Canada licence and yet you're
looking at a quonset that's going to house a heck of a lot more than
197 plants," he said.

Lench said police are concerned that organized crime is "capitalizing
on the opportunity to use someone who's got a legitimate licence to
grow more product for them and their use."

"I think we're going to see more and more of that," he
said.

Lench added that if people who have a licence to grow marijuana exceed
the number of plants they're allowed to grow they're supposed to
dispose of the marijuana.

"That doesn't mean giving it to compassion clubs or selling it," he
said.