SAFETY VS. PRIVACY IN GROW-OP FIGHT

If your neighbour's electricity meter is spinning like a whirling
dervish, Chilliwack police and fire officials may soon have the power
to inspect that home for possible fire hazards - and maybe shut down
a marijuana grow-op in the process.

The city is looking at a recent pilot project in Surrey that saw the
electricity cut off to about 78 homes that didn't respond within 48
hours to an inspection request to check for fire hazards due to
increased electrical consumption.

Surrey fire chief Len Garis says most marijuana growers among the 119
homes served with inspection notices during the project had fled by
the time inspectors arrived, but preventing fires sparked by grow-ops
is the primary goal.

Certainly there were cases where the tenant had fled and the owners
attended and let us in for the inspection and we found active
grow-ops," he said, but the goal is electrical safety."

B.C. Civil Liberties policy director Micheal Vonn, however, called
the joint police/fire inspections a ruse" that further erodes privacy
protections set out in the constitution.

It's so thin, I don't even know if I could call it a ruse," she said.
This is an attempt to do an end run around the protection of judicial
oversight" and the requirement to obtain a court warrant before
entering a citizen's home.

Mr. Garis said project inspectors had to bend and weave" privacy laws
governing BC Hydro, but added that changes to the legislation are now
expected this fall that will allow the corporation to divulge
information directly to local authorities. Until then, BC Hydro is
not allowed to release high consumption locations.

Ms. Vonn described the proposal as an attempt to conscript" BC Hydro
to act as an agent of the police.

B.C. Solicitor General John Les agreed that privacy rights and the
safety of residents living next to grow-ops must be carefully
balanced," but added that the high risk of fires related to grow-ops
is a proven fact.

It's not some overwhelming need to pry, but pro-actively deal with a
proven danger in the community," he said, about the proposed
legislative changes.

The ministry is very encouraged" by the results of the Surrey
project, he added, and looking into changing the law to allow the
release of high electricity consumption locations - and allow the use
of infrared technology to detect hot electrical wiring.

There were four house fires in Chilliwack last year directly related
to grow-ops, and eight in 2003. Surrey reported 15 fires related to
grow-ops in 2003.

Chilliwack fire chief Rick Ryall said grow-ops pose a substantial"
fire hazard to neighbours and to firefighters who risk exposure to
burning chemicals and to booby-traps set up by growers. A study
earlier this year estimated the chances of a grow-op fire are 24
times greater than a typical home.

Making (high electricity consumption) information readily available
to the RCMP and the authorities is really a positive step," he said.

Chilliwack councillor Sharon Gaetz, chair of the city's public safety
committee, said the Surrey project is definitely on the radar screen"
here because it could offer the only way to shut down grow-ops.

This will be the only way we'll be able to completely stop grow-ops
in our communities," she said. It sounds like a pretty efficient way
to me to shut them down."