IT'S ABOUT TIME

The news that Victoria plans to amend privacy legislation this spring
to make it easier for BC 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 have
access to this information - which would give them a virtual blueprint
for where the biggest grow ops are in each community.

While it's true B.C. residents don't agree on whether pot should be
legalized or decriminalized, few want a massive grow op next door -
since it may lead to their own home being shot up or broken into by
thugs trying to commit a grow rip.

There's 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 - and we've seen our share in the Tri-Cities - are big
business for organized crime, and the proceeds are used to fund all
sorts of criminal enterprises. The sooner BC Hydro supplies
municipalities with a list of suspect homes, the sooner police can
begin dealing with the problem.