CITY'S POT BYLAW TOUGHER ON GROWERS THAN COURTS: MAYOR

Chilliwack's anti-pot bylaw, the toughest in B.C., was finally adopted by
city council Monday.

The bylaw carries a maximum $10,000 fine which can be levied against
tenants caught growing marijuana, or landlords who fail to inspect rental
properties as required.

"We're taking a stronger stand than the courts," Mayor Hames said.

The Nuisance, Noxious, or Offensive Trades Health and Safety bylaw, drafted
after extensive consultation with lawyers, landlords, realtors and police
officials, contains provisions which also cover the growing problem of
methamphetamine labs.

Landlords are responsible under the bylaw for cleaning up premises where
marijuana grow-ops or chemical labs are found, and to notify tenants before
reoccupation "to ensure that property is safe to be occupied," Mayor Hames
said.

Councillor Sharon Gaetz, who chairs the city's public safety committee,
said the bylaw will help recover the cost of finding and busting grow-ops,
which is currently "over a million" dollars every year.

"Our council believes regular, honest taxpayers should not subsidize clean
up costs," she said.

Chilliwack's RCMP marijuana strike team is "taking down two grow-ops every
week," she said.

The RCMP strike team was formed and work on the bylaw started in June 2002,
after a study by the University College of the Fraser Valley showed
Chilliwack had the second-highest rate of marijuana grow operations per
capita in the province.

Mayor Hames said landlords can avoid most problems targeted by the bylaw by
taking the simple steps of asking tenants for identification, checking
credit references, and asking for signed leases that call for regular
inspections of the premises.

He expects the bylaw will cut in half the number of grow-ops in Chilliwack.

"I think we've got a winner," he said.