HYDROPONICS BYLAW ON HOLD IN CHILLIWACK

VANCOUVER -- City council in Chilliwack, B.C., has suspended plans to
enact a controversial bylaw that would require customers of
hydroponic stores to provide photo ID and personal information that
would be entered into an RCMP database.

Mayor Clint Hames confirmed that the city will wait for a report from
provincial Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis before it decides
what to do with the bylaw.

Mr. Loukidelis said yesterday that he was pleased the municipality
has responded to concerns about the bylaw. His report, which is
scheduled to be released within a month, will examine the privacy
implications of a growing number of bylaws enacted by B.C.
municipalities that require certain businesses to obtain personal
information from their customers.

"I am pleased that city council in Chilliwack has decided to give
this bylaw some sober second thought," said Jason Gratl, president of
the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, one of a number of groups that
voiced concerns about the proposed bylaw.

Mr. Hames said he welcomed Mr. Loukidelis's review, pledging that --
if necessary -- the bylaw will be amended to comply with provincial
privacy legislation. But he expressed some skepticism about what he
called the hydroponics industry's "passion for privacy."

He estimated the Chilliwack area has about 1,000 marijuana grow
operations, and suggested that local businesses must be providing the
supplies for many of them.

"If the hydroponics industry wants to be clean, why are they not
working with the city to make sure their products are not being used
improperly?" Mr. Hames asked.