GROW OPS, BREATHING PROBLEMS LINKED

Children Being Raised In Grow Houses 'Innocent Victims,' Police Say

WATERLOO - When Waterloo regional drug officers raided four Kitchener
houses this fall, they weren't surprised to find 550 marijuana plants and
growing equipment.

But they were surprised to find three children, ranging in age from five
months to four years, living in one of the homes, with the youngest child
exhibiting respiratory problems caused by the infant's exposure to indoor
marijuana grow operations.

Inhalers used by asthmatics are often found in these homes, Const. Daryl
Smith, a Waterloo regional drug officer said yesterday.

"These kids have no control over where they live and it is their health
that is being put at risk for profit," Smith said in an interview yesterday.

"They are the innocent victims," he said.

Yesterday, Smith presented the regional police board with a progress report
on Project Ogre, a joint forces operation involving regional police and the
Kitchener detachment of RCMP, which targets the ongoing problem of indoor
marijuana grow operations in the region.

Officers involved in Project Ogre (named after the movie character Shrek),
have executed 34 search warrants, laid 86 criminal charges and seized 6,287
marijuana plants worth about $6 million since the operation began in
October 2003. Their work is continuing.

Smith said the regional trend has shifted from large grows of 400 to 500
plants with hydro bypasses, to smaller grows of 100 to 300 plants with no
hydro bypasses and families occupying the homes.

"You may make the link that because they are smaller, it is forcing the
families to live" in the houses, the officer said in an interview.

Since October 2003, police have found a total of 10 children living in
these homes. Police call Family and Children's Services of Waterloo Region
who apprehend the children. The children are returned to their parents once
a safe place for them to live is found, Smith said. Some of these children
lived in these homes for two years.

Last October, police raided four houses in the Kitchener neighbourhood
bounded by Fairway Road North and Lackner Woods. The children's' parents
looked after all four grows.

"Everywhere the family travelled with the children, they were being exposed
to the dangers of indoor grow operations," Smith said.

"There was no safe place for these children."