PUBLICIZING POT LOCATIONS ENDANGERS THE PUBLIC

In the Sept. 27 issue of The Leader, the front page article concerning
the RCMP's marijuana grow-op initiative caught my eye,

It was stated that this program is being used to bring the problem of
grow-ops to the public eye, but what concerns me is that this very
information can be detrimental, even highly dangerous to any new or
unsuspecting homeowners or residents.

As the article suggests, sometimes the grow-ops pop back up in the
same places, this is true, and it then becomes unethical, even morally
reprehensible, to have published these addresses.

If grow-op thieves present a danger to public safety, the RCMP is in
fact negligent in publishing this information, because it is after the
fact.

They are not preventing any crime, but providing information which
could be used in further crime where the potential victim could be an
innocent bystander.

I was under the impression that our police force was obligated to do
all it could to help prevent crime. This would seem to be
contradictory to that position.

Furthermore, the article goes on to state that research shows homes
with grow-ops are 24 times more likely to have fires than homes
without, a blatant falsity as research shows statistically that there
is not a difference in the number of fires in homes with or without
grow-ops.

Dean M. Bay