What is with all the grow ops in Saanich?

Are politics, crime, medicine or good policing behind the spate of
police grow operation busts in Saanich?

Saanich police have been busting grow-ops at a rate of one per week
ever since Jan. 16, when police seized 125 plants in a rental home
owned by the municipality near Swan Lake.

This week was no exception. Police executed a search warrant in the
3900 block of Long Gun Place on Feb. 12. They found what they
described as a "three stage grow operation," which means they found
three crops set to mature at three points throughout the year.

Two men face charges. One man was already serving a conditional
sentence order. He will stay in custody until his court date.

If police keep up the pace they will easily pass last year's number.
There were 18 busts in 2004. In the last seven weeks, police have
searched seven homes, seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
of plants and equipment. The timing is a little suspicious. Saanich
police's phenomenal success comes on the heels of a controversial
Saanich bylaw targeting landlords whose tenants are caught growing
pot.

Saanich justified the bylaw saying that its purpose was to protect
future renters.

The bylaw makes sure rental houses are brought back up to code after
being altered to become indoor farms for B.C.s most lucrative crop.
But the wording of the bylaw regarding recouping policing costs raised
some alarm bells.

The new law said Saanich could recoup police and fire costs by billing
the property owner for the costs of the investigation. A similar law
in Surrey resulted in a $30,000 bill for one landlord.

Saanich's lawyer is currently rewording the bylaw so it will do what
is intended, said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard.

Even without concerns about policing costs, the bylaw is unpopular
with landlords who don't relish any fees.

The timing of the pot busts couldn't be better for council, which
unanimously approved the bylaw.

A nice epidemic of pot busts could help the municipality convince the
electorate that the landlord law is necessary.

The other possibility behind the rash of pot busts is that B.C.'s cash
crop is expanding in Saanich. It is hard to say.

Some of the timing is just coincidental: police became aware of one
grow op when a resident called 911 for an unrelated emergency. Police
arrived to find one of the homeowners sitting on the basement floor
surrounded by 26 nearly mature plants.

Ask Saanich Const. John Price and he'll say police are not targeting
grow ops right now any more than they usually do.

It turns out early spring is always a bad time of year for dope
farmers because the police force is running at full capacity.

"Most of shifts are running flush right now. Nobody is has any
injuries. Nobody is on holidays," notes Price.

The full compliment of staff means police have time to request and
follow up on search warrants, he explains.

At least one reader of the Saanich News was upset by the police's
vigilance. One smaller bust where 14 plants were confiscated was
really just medicinal marijuana being grown for a single user, an
anonymous caller told us. We have not been able to verify this.

Police were not aware of anyone with a Health Canada medicinal
marijuana exemption in the area.

But according to Phillippe Lucas of the Vancouver Island Compassion
Club, 14 plants clearly indicates personal use.

Lucas pointed out that there are 290,000 medicinal marijuana users in
B.C. with recommendations from their doctors. Only 115 of those people
have Health Canada exemptions. By Health Canada's estimates, last
week's pot busts would only supply about 2.5 medicinal users who each
need about 50 plants to meet their needs for a year.

Politics, crime, medicine or good policing? That answer might never be
completely clear. What is clear is that this is an issue that will
keep coming up for a long time to come.