LEGAL GROW-OPS POSE RISKS: COPS

As the number of York Region marijuana operations continues to
decline, debate about the medicinal use and cultivation of the drug grows.

Using marijuana has allowed Storm Peschel to begin working and his
attendance at school has improved.

The 18-year-old York Region resident has multiple synostosis
syndrome, a rare bone disorder that has dealt him chronic pain and
joint discomfort.

About three years ago, after trying other medication, including
codeine, to deal with his pain, he began using medicinal marijuana.

Since then, his quality of life has improved dramatically.

Cannabis has been very effective, he said.

His mother, Georgia, calls the small amounts of marijuana her son
uses to ease his pain his "life-saving medicine".

While he doesn't grow the drug, he does hold a possession licence
issued by the federal government.

The issue of medical marijuana, including its production as permitted
under federal regulations, has caught the eye of York Regional Police.

While some York residents are licenced to grow medicinal marijuana,
few here, including local police, are told about these operations.

Last year, two federally licenced indoor operations were discovered
in Newmarket, a report presented to the York Regional Police services
board last month shows.

For several years, the police service has pushed Ottawa to share the
locations of licenced grows.

But, police say despite the pressure, the feds still aren't providing details.

Health Canada has said it will not provide the locations, citing
privacy law. Anyone licenced for medical marijuana must abide by all
federal, provincial and municipal laws, the ministry added.

York police has argued for several years that, to its knowledge,
Health Canada does not regularly inspect licenced grow locations,
which, legal or not, lead to health issues due to mould, higher
levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, electrical hazards and
others related to chemicals and pesticides.

As of January 2010, about 5,000 people across Canada, including about
1,900 in Ontario, are licenced to possess medicinal marijuana while
about 3,500 are licenced to produce pot for medical purposes,
according to Health Canada's website.

Police realize some people will complain officers will be at the door
if the federal government provides a list of licenced grows, Deputy
Chief Bruce Herridge said.

But he questions if that is necessarily negative because there is no
other oversight of these operations.

Police do not want to enter the health debate about marijuana usage
when it is prescribed by medical professionals, he said.

But the lack of information from the federal government can make it
difficult for officers to effectively perform their duties.

York police raided two grow operations in 2007, one in a Newmarket
home and another in a home in Aurora, before realizing they were
federally licenced, albeit to grow amounts smaller than found when
the homes were raided.

A Newmarket home investigated last year turned out to be the same one
raided in 2007, according to a police services board report.

Licence holders at that home are allowed to grow 75 plants and that's
how many officers found, although one of the licences was expired.

Despite that, police let the grower keep the plants. Prosecutors told
police there was no likelihood of conviction, but officers plan to
continue to monitor the home.

At a second Newmarket home, police were called to help a Children's
Aid investigator after a five-year-old was found living at a home
where pot was being grown.

It was later determined an adult living at the home was licenced to
grow 25 pot plants and was in compliance with federal regulations.

Meanwhile, Mr, Peschel said he believes education is a key to more
understanding of the regulations and those licenced to use medicinal marijuana.

Ottawa's regulation of marijuana is spelled out in the Marihuana
Medical Access Regulations, announced in 2001 under the former
Liberal government.

These rules are meant 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.

Yet there is a lot of fear associated with the subject of medicinal
pot -- by people using who fear a crackdown and by some in the public
who believe marijuana is a dangerous criminal drug, according to Mr. Peschel.

He won't consider buying his medicine from a stranger on the streets
because that person might be carrying a weapon or hard drugs, such as cocaine.

Wherever the debate goes from here and whatever the federal
government decides to do about the request by York police to share
the locations of licenced grow operations, Mr. Peschel's mother noted
her son has shown a marked improvement since he began using medicinal
marijuana.

"He is living proof," she said. "And, there are thousands (of people)
who are living proof."