SURREY PREPARED TO GO SOLO IN GROW-OP CRACKDOWN

VANCOUVER - Surrey is prepared to act alone to restrict the sale of
hydroponics equipment as a way of stopping illegal marijuana grow ops
if other B.C. municipalities refuse to back its call for province-wide
regulation, the city's mayor says.

Surrey will press for regulation of the equipment at this month's
meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalities in Vancouver in the last
week of September.

"In order to lead the way, we would put in some measures that would
help regulate the industry," said Dianne Watts. "What we would do is
to ensure that legitimate folks that are selling hydroponics equipment
get the support of the city."

Ms. Watts, responding to critics who say regulation would penalize
people who use hydroponics equipment legally, said she would prefer
regulation across the province, but is prepared for Surrey to go solo
on the concept.

"It's about taking the lead on it," Ms. Watts said. "The argument can
be, well, fine, you ban it in Surrey and somebody goes to Langley, and
we hear that, and that's why we're asking the provincial government to
do it because we think it's important.

"If this is one small piece that can assist in taking down grow ops
then it's worthwhile."

Surrey City Council this week adopted a motion to bring a resolution
to the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting that member municipalities
push the province to regulate hydroponics equipment sales.

Specifically, the motion calls on the UBCM to ask the B.C. Liberal
government to enact legislation to allow the sale of hydroponics
equipment to licensed retailers only, and also make sure buyers of
hydroponics equipment have valid electrical permits.

UBCM President Brenda Binnie predicted a lively debate. "It's going to
be one to watch," she said of the motion, warning that Surrey will
have to make a pitch from the floor, because 260 resolutions are
already finalized for debate.

Surrey says B.C. has 50 times as many hydroponics shops as Washington
State, and 30 times as many as Alberta, which indicates that grow
operators are at work.

In the past year, Surrey tracked down such operators through the
Electrical and Fire Safety Inspection Program, which uses data from BC
Hydro to flag houses with high levels of power consumption, an
indication of grow-op activity.

Surrey's idea of regulation has earned a reserved response from
observers in the fight against grow ops.

A working group within the Solicitor-General's Ministry is looking at
the idea, but the minister, John Les, has some doubts.

Spokesman Brett Lowther noted that the minister believes there would
be a need to "tread carefully" because the agriculture industry has
many legitimate users of hydroponics.

"They would be hugely impacted," Mr. Lowther said.

Vancouver city Councillor Kim Capri, speaking for Mayor Sam Sullivan
on the issue, said it might not be a bad idea to regulate sales of the
lamps, timers and other equipment used in hydroponics as long as it
was done across B.C. to prevent grow operators from buying in
jurisdictions without regulations.

But Ms. Capri echoed Mr. Les. "As we move toward locally grown
produce, individual homeowners are wanting to take advantage of
home-sized hydroponics equipment, so there needs to be some way to
permit them so they could still access [the equipment] and not be
discriminated against," she said.

One long-time Lower Mainland hydroponics equipment vendor, who did not
wish to be named, said the inspection blitz in Surrey has cut into his
sales significantly.

"I'd be lucky if I'm in business in five years," he
said.

He is even more upset about the proposal to regulate the sale of
hydroponics gear. Restrictions on the sale of legal products to
prevent illegal use makes no sense, he said, adding that it would be
just as senseless to hold car dealers accountable for selling to
customers who drive drunk.

The vendor said he would sell on the black market if regulations were
enforced. And he questioned how effective they would be, since much of
the equipment needed to outfit a grow op can be assembled from
home-and-garden stores. "They'll never stop it."

Gus Copan, owner of QuickGrow Systems Ltd. in Surrey, said he would
move his business to another city, or across the border, if
hydroponics retailers were forced to operate under a strict registry
and permit system.

"We're so the other side of a grow op. We don't sell anything over 400
watts. ... I really have a problem with that. That's a little too Big
Brother for me," he said.

Mr. Copan said he refuses to sell to people he believes run grow ops,
and these regulations would unfairly kill QuickGrow, which does
$500,000 of business a year.

"I've been doing this for years, and people call me up and say 'I
wanna grow pot'... I just hang up on people. I walk away from business
every day," he said.

He said his clients include the Niagara School of Botany in Ontario,
people with licences for medicinal marijuana and those with special
dietary requirements.

"We have parents that will buy the unit because their kids can't eat
anything that comes off a fruit or a vegetable stand because of
pesticides," he said. "They have to grow their own lettuce, they have
to grow their own strawberries to make their own jam."

Mr. Copan, whose business is entering its seventh year, said forcing
his customers to register would be a "serious invasion of privacy"
that won't have the desired effect.

"If they feel that over all it's going to curb the amount of grow ops
in B.C. they're approaching it totally wrong ... if you want to stop
grow-ops, legalize cannabis."

Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, was also
skeptical. He suggested a hydroponics crackdown would create a black
market for such equipment, continuing the battle of wits that has
characterized the illegal drug trade.

"I certainly share Surrey's concern with trying to put the grow ops
out of business, but it seems to me the solution is to regulate the
industry, not try to pretend you can get rid of it."

Ms. Watts remains steadfast. "Some of the people are legitimate users
and then there are some that are not. Any legislation that is put in
place is not for the people that comply by rules and regulations, but
obviously for people who don't," she said.

"I would say this is a piece of the puzzle. It's not the be-all and
end-all. I do believe the situation with grow ops is very complex, and
there's a lot of issues attached to it. I don't believe there is one
isolated solution that deals with the entire piece."