POT BYLAW BEACON FOR BREAK-INS: LAWYER

City bylaw notices posted on homes where marijuana grow-ops have been found
are invitations to a break-in, says Chilliwack lawyer Suzanne Paterson.

"They don't have to be on the front door," she says about the notices.
"This is just a flashing light for criminals."

She says the homes of two of her clients have been broken into after
notices were posted on their doors.

But Chilliwack Mayor Clint Hames says the best way to avoid a home break-in
is to not grow pot.

"These folks ought not to be involved in marijuana growing in the first
place," he says.

The city's recently-passed Nuisance, Noxious or Offensive Trades, Health
and Safety bylaw says a building inspector "may post a notice .. in a
conspicuous place at the entrances" of a property where controlled
substances have been found.

City staff say the word "may" gives the inspector the discretion not to
post a notice in the unlikely event that only one marijuana plant in a
flower pot is found. The notices must be "conspicuous" so that new owners
or renters can't claim they were never told by the city that the property
once contained a grow-op or chemical lab for making illegal drugs, if
health problems arise later.

Ms. Paterson suggests that neighbours living near the homes where notices
have been posted are also at risk.

If the criminals don't find what they want in the vacant home, she says,
"they can always go next door."

"They (city officials) don't care whether they create a hazard in the
neighbourhood or not," she says.