MORE INFORMATION A GOOD THING IN DRUG FIGHT

The news that Victoria plans to amend privacy legislation this spring to
make it easier for B.C. Hydro to give municipalities information on
customers using unusually large amounts of electricity is long overdue.

It's ridiculous that the RCMP and municipal police forces don't already
have access to this information. Such details would give them a virtual
blueprint for where the biggest grow ops are in each community.

While it's true that residents of British Columbia don't agree on whether
pot should be legalized or decriminalized, few would find it desirable to
have a massive grow op next door - since it might lead to their own home
being shot up or broken into by thugs trying to commit a grow rip.

There have been more than a few cases of innocent people being terrorized
by would-be grow rippers who target the wrong address.

And nobody wants the fertilizers, the moulds and the fire risks that go
with large-scale pot grows.

Make no mistake, we're not talking about some hippie with a few weed plants
on his windowsill.

Big grow ops are big business for organized crime, and the proceeds from
those big operations are used to fund all sorts of criminal enterprises in
all corners of this province.

The sooner B.C. Hydro supplies municipalities with a list of suspect homes,
the sooner police can begin dealing with the problem.

And the sooner all residents of British Columbia can start to feel safer in
their own communities.