THE CURSE OF THE GROW OP IS UPON US. . .

There is a new Black Death creeping up on us. It relentlessly
threatens the very foundations of everything we hold dear and, if
something isn't done soon, we'll all be hopelessly lost.

No, it's not the West Nile virus, nor a rogue meteorite or a race of
Lindsay Lohan clones.

It's the grow op.

Consider a 2006 press release by the provincial government about new
efforts to detect electrical diversions. Housing Minister Rich
Coleman warned that, "Grow ops are more likely to catch fire, more
likely to have guns inside and are more likely to be robbed. They
pose a danger to our neighbourhoods and we're determined to shut them
down." John Les, minister of public safety and solicitor general
added that, "Marijuana grow ops are a $7-billion industry in B.C. and
they are largely controlled by organized crime."

According to judges at all levels of B.C. courts, it's a "scourge," a
"plague," or an "epidemic." Those words ring with a certain hysteria
that should be reserved for truly cataclysmic events. Quite apart
from the unseemly judicial whines about being constrained by higher
court rulings, the language that accompanies the wringing of judicial
hands when grow-op sentences are imposed has a certain apocalyptic
tone usually associated with lamenting the onset of an incurable
disease. Here's a prime example from Surrey provincial court Judge
John Lenaghan in a 2005 case, R. v. Wallis:

"Five years ago, in a decision entitled R. v. Nguyen, (2000) B.C.J.
No. 807, I made the following comments, at paragraph 29: 'Every judge
who sits or resides in this community is only too aware of how
prevalent a crime marijuana production is. Crown counsel . . . .
referred to it as an epidemic and, in my respectful view, this is not
an exaggeration. Enormous social resources are consumed in the effort
to eliminate this problem and all the indications are that it is a
largely unsuccessful effort . . . . Parliament has deemed the
production of marijuana to be illegal and it is the duty of the
courts to uphold and apply the law. In my view, what may be termed
'the marijuana industry,' has a profound and corrupting effect which,
if not checked, has the potential to undermine social institutions
and mores Canadian society holds dear.' Since I wrote those words,
the situation in this community has worsened. What was an epidemic
has become a plague."

That call to arms, as over the top as it was, has been cited with
approval in a number of cases since, both in the provincial and supreme courts.

Let's be clear. Grow ops are a nuisance and a criminal activity that
deserves to be condemned. We would certainly be better off without
them. But we will never be if we continue to believe that we can
deter people from entering the trade by sending existing urban
farmers to prison for longer and longer stretches. There will always
be someone willing to take whatever risk there is to reap the
enormous profits available in the cannabis trade.

After all, an ounce of pot costs peanuts to produce and, in a black
market, is worth about $600 an ounce, almost as much as an ounce of
gold. The only answer is to legalize and regulate.

But I'm not interested here in sentencing delusions. What I want to
explore are those grave problems that, we are told, have turned our
otherwise peaceful and stable neighbourhoods into war zones.

Police experts are routinely called to give an opinion (or are quoted
by prosecutors) on the ill effects of grow ops, a sort of shopping
list of evils. The object of the exercise is to impress upon the
court that the grow op is a close cousin of the car bomb and, judging
by the response, it's extremely effective. Here are the major items,
recited solemnly like Bible passages, that have been culled from both
personal experience and recent cases:

- - The number of grow operations in the province is increasing
dramatically, to the point where it has reached "epidemic"
proportions; and growers are not only getting more efficient, they
are becoming increasingly adept at hiding indicators of their
presence. (Grow ops are always "sophisticated," a word that means
absolutely nothing in the context and should be shunned by all involved.)

- - Eighty to 90 per cent of those operations -- or whatever may be the
percentage du jour -- are associated with organized crime;

- - Firearms are frequently present and are a constant danger to police
when grow ops are raided;

- - There is an increasing level of violence associated with home
invasions of residences containing grow operations. A corollary to
that is the increasing number of traumatic incidents where innocent
neighbours are mistakenly targeted for home invasions.

- - There is a high risk of electrical fires from faulty wiring;

- - Serious damage may be caused to the building housing a grow operation;

- - Growers are increasingly purchasing new homes in residential
neighbourhoods. With no landlord to deal with, the risk of detection
is reduced; and residential homes are preferred for grow operations
because of the greater privacy protection offered by the Charter than
would otherwise be the case.

Right off the top, the first is as obvious as a warty nose.
Nevertheless, all that expansion happened when the sentences being
handed out were oscillating like a strobe light. No entrepreneur
could be sure if he'd go to jail for a long time or not; but that
didn't prevent a 116 per cent province-wide increase in grow ops
between 1997 and 2003. Not surprisingly, the grower learned over time
how to be more efficient ("sophisticated") and how to camouflage the
farm to minimize his risk.

Yet all that says nothing about any real or perceived evils
associated with grow ops.

The last two are equally irrelevant, particularly when taken
together. The harm caused to the premises has nothing to do with any
threat to social peace; and it becomes even more irrelevant as the
shift to ownership continues. If an owner wants to damage his own
investment, who's to complain?

As for the Charter, the home of a tenant is no less a castle than
that of an owner, and just as protected against unlawful searches.

Which leaves organized crime, firearms, "grow-rips" and fires, all of
which I'll look at in detail next time.