LEGAL SYSTEM, NOT CITIES, SHOULD HANDLE POT ISSUES

The Editor,

Re. "Got pot? You'll have bills, too" (page 1, The Tri-City News, April 30).

The action of Port Coquitlam council in holding landlords responsible for
the illegal actions of their tenants is an indication of a breakdown in our
legal system. Enforcing the law is, first and foremost, the responsibility
of the police and the courts.

While the police seem to be doing their job, the courts have been less than
eager to discourage marijuana grow ops by either finding some reason to
dismiss the case (police employed wrong techniques in obtaining a search
warrant) or otherwise handing out light sentences, etc.

Are we now expecting unarmed landlords to invite the hostility of their
tenants by conducting regular searches? Unless the tenancy act has been
changed, I as a landlord have no right to enter a property legally occupied
by a tenant unless I have some specific reason to do so, much like the
protection against searches by the police. Is a landlord now expected to
engage in a form of vigilantism?

Let's not pass the blame for the incompetence of our legal system onto our
landlords.

Al Harms

Coquitlam