News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: Editorial: Neighbourhoods No Place For Grow-Ops |
| Title: | CN BC: Editorial: Neighbourhoods No Place For Grow-Ops |
| Published On: | 2005-03-01 |
| Source: | Chilliwack Progress (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-16 22:02:02 |
NEIGHBOURHOODS NO PLACE FOR GROW-OPS
The notice stapled to the garage door confirmed suspicions.
The house, a fashionable bungalow in a nice neighbourhood, had been busted
as a grow-op a few days earlier and closed by city staff.
Under the city's tough new anti grow-op bylaw, the notices flapping in the
spring breeze were part of a program aimed at protecting public safety, and
penalizing owners for illegal activity that occurs on their property.
Last week city staff and local police held a press conference to outline
the bylaw's effectiveness. (City bylaw pounding pot growers, Progress, Feb 25.)
Under the new law, nearly $50,000 in fines and $60,000 in fees has been
assessed since September. The average home grow-op owner, said city staff,
can expect $7,000 in fees and from $3,000 to $10,000 in costs to make the
house habitable again.
The aim of the bylaw, the city contends, is to hurt marijuana growers where
it counts - in the pocket book. The majority of the marijuana grow
operations proliferating in the Lower Mainland (there are an estimated
1,200 in Chilliwack) are linked to organized crime, police argue. And the
best way to battle organized crime is to make it more costly to do business.
Since the bylaw was enacted, several other communities in the region have
taken notice. They see it as a useful tool in battling the growing trend of
illegal grow operations in residential districts.
But bylaws and police enforcement are not the only tactics that need to be
employed if neighbourhoods hope to resist the infiltration of illegal
activity. Residents must take responsibility for their neighbourhoods by
participating in programs like BlockWatch.
Grow-ops have no place in residential neighbourhoods. They are dangerous
(one in 10 catch fire), and they can attract people most family
neighbourhoods can do without.
The city's innovative approach is making it hard for organized crime to do
business in Chilliwack. But residents also have an important role to play
by ensuring their street does not become the newest home to crime.
The notice stapled to the garage door confirmed suspicions.
The house, a fashionable bungalow in a nice neighbourhood, had been busted
as a grow-op a few days earlier and closed by city staff.
Under the city's tough new anti grow-op bylaw, the notices flapping in the
spring breeze were part of a program aimed at protecting public safety, and
penalizing owners for illegal activity that occurs on their property.
Last week city staff and local police held a press conference to outline
the bylaw's effectiveness. (City bylaw pounding pot growers, Progress, Feb 25.)
Under the new law, nearly $50,000 in fines and $60,000 in fees has been
assessed since September. The average home grow-op owner, said city staff,
can expect $7,000 in fees and from $3,000 to $10,000 in costs to make the
house habitable again.
The aim of the bylaw, the city contends, is to hurt marijuana growers where
it counts - in the pocket book. The majority of the marijuana grow
operations proliferating in the Lower Mainland (there are an estimated
1,200 in Chilliwack) are linked to organized crime, police argue. And the
best way to battle organized crime is to make it more costly to do business.
Since the bylaw was enacted, several other communities in the region have
taken notice. They see it as a useful tool in battling the growing trend of
illegal grow operations in residential districts.
But bylaws and police enforcement are not the only tactics that need to be
employed if neighbourhoods hope to resist the infiltration of illegal
activity. Residents must take responsibility for their neighbourhoods by
participating in programs like BlockWatch.
Grow-ops have no place in residential neighbourhoods. They are dangerous
(one in 10 catch fire), and they can attract people most family
neighbourhoods can do without.
The city's innovative approach is making it hard for organized crime to do
business in Chilliwack. But residents also have an important role to play
by ensuring their street does not become the newest home to crime.
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