MEDICINAL POT STOLEN IN HOME INVASION

Two people were terrorized inside their Chilliwack home by thieves
looking for medicinal marijuana.

The home invasion took place about 1:30 early Wednesday morning,
according to Chilliwack RCMP.

The suspects broke in at a home at the 45000 block of Storey Avenue,
bound the two adults in the house, and used pepper spray and a stun
gun on the male occupant. Police are still investigating the incident
for clues about the suspects.

"It was upwards of five people," Cpl. Sean Sullivan of the Chilliwack
RCMP said. "They were all gone prior to the police arrival."

After the incident, the male occupant was taken to hospital. His
injuries were not life-threatening and he was later released. As well,
the couple's two children were at home during the invasion but were
not harmed.

One of the adults had a government permit to grow marijuana for
medicinal reasons. The suspects made off with a small amount of the
substance.

Medicinal marijuana advocate Norm Siefken told the Times the victim,
Brian Carlisle, another medicinal marijuana proponent, informed
Siefken the suspects beat him and left him for dead and that he is
currently recovering at a 'safe house'.

The Times attempted to contact Carlisle for confirmation but could not
reach him by press time.

For the police, drug-related break-ins and thefts, so-called
'grow-rips', are becoming more common in the area.

"We're seeing quite a few marijuana grow-rips," Sullivan
said.

The attitude, he added, seems to be that for some it is easier to
steal another person's narcotics than produce their own, even though
residences growing marijuana, legally or illegally, are usually not
left unguarded.

"They're tended to, more often than not, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week."