HYDROPONIC BYLAW WILTS UNDER GLARE OF PRIVACY ISSUES

Lawyer Suggests `Red-Light District' For Grow-Ops

Chilliwack's controversial bylaw aimed at regulating the sale of
hydroponic equipment and drug paraphernalia was withdrawn by city
council Monday in light of mounting privacy concerns.

Mayor Clint Hames apologized to the 60-plus crowd, some of whom came
from Vancouver and Kelowna, for cancelling a scheduled public hearing
on the bylaw, saying it would instead be sent to the B.C. Privacy
Commissioner for review before coming back to council.

He also said the city will work with municipal government associations
in B.C. to develop a model bylaw that could be used by all communities
in the region.

But after the council meeting, Hames was clearly frustrated by the
reaction of some hydroponic merchants who flooded City Hall with faxes
that characterized the bylaw as "Stalinist" and "gestapo-esque" while
Chilliwack residents are demanding city officials take more action to
protect their neighbourhoods from illegal marijuana grow-ops.

Hames said he wants to work with the hydroponic industry to find a
solution to legitimate privacy concerns, but noted that many of the
opposition faxes appeared to originate from one company, which openly
advertises its products for marijuana production.

"I would have thought legitimate merchants would be just as anxious to
clear their name and would want to work with the city to protect
the public," Hames said. "The products they're selling are ending up
in our neighbourhoods causing unsafe situations -- now how do we fix
that?"

Jason Goodman, vice-president of the U.S.-based Hydroponic Merchants
Association, agreed there is no easy answer to the Mayor's question,
but he suggested the city lobby federal and provincial governments to
enforce existing "relatively-strict" anti-marijuana laws rather than
impose "pseudo-criminal sanctions" on merchants engaged in a legal
business.

"If judges aren't handing out harsh sentence for people who break the
law .. I would think that would be the first place to go for a
community that's morally outraged," he said.

He likened the Chilliwack bylaw proposal to restricting video camera
sales because some people have used cameras to make child
pornography.

"The tens of thousands of plants cultivated (with hydroponic
equipment) certainly outnumber the illegal ones," Goodman said.

Lawyer Jonathan Baker, legal counsel for the B.C. Hydroponic Merchants
Association, said the city has "enormous powers" already and can
conduct warrant-less searches to enforce its bylaws.

"The proposed bylaw, however, went after innocent businessmen who are
selling lawful goods and who are not legally responsible for what
their customers do with their product," he said.

The city could also create high-priority enforcement areas in
residential neighbourhoods, he added, which would "create an
incentive" for illegal grow-ops to move into low-priority industrial
areas.

"In a sense, that is what a red-light district is in some larger
cities - an area where the enforcement is not as stringent," he said.

The Chilliwack bylaw would have required sellers of hydroponic
equipment and drug paraphernalia to keep a registry with the names and
addresses of buyers for police review, and to pay a $1,000 licence
fee, both measures aimed at slowing down or regulating sales as an
outright ban is outside the city's jurisdiction.

B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukadelis told The Progress on
Tuesday that he welcomed Chilliwack council's decision to hold off on
the bylaw, and he "urged" the city to conduct a privacy impact
assessment of the proposal. There is no legal requirement for the city
to conduct such an assessment, he said.

Hames agreed after the council meeting that "in hindsight" the city
should have conducted the privacy assessment, but the bylaw was
reviewed by the city's advisory committee with input from legal
counsel and the RCMP. It was also similar to earlier Chilliwack bylaws
aimed at stemming the sale of stolen goods at pawnbrokers' shops and
slowing the proliferation of marijuana grow-ops in the community.

"We wanted to do this in a manner that is fair and reflects the values
of this community," he said. "The community is pushing us and saying
we don't want (grow-ops) in our neighbourhoods. We're trying to
respond to that."

Federal and provincial legislation make marijuana grow-ops illegal,
but the battle is being fought in local communities, which have few
weapons to wield.

Hames also said the courts are not backing up the community's
anti-drug stand by imposing tougher sentences on offenders.

"I'm getting the sense from our community that their values are
completely disconnected from the courts," he said. "That's fundamental
to democracy and justice, that the courts reflect the values we have
in the community."

The Privacy Commissioner is preparing a discussion paper on B.C.
bylaws that involve the collecting and disclosure of personal
information - and how secondary use of that information can be
controlled - for release next month.