PLATEAU GROW-OP FORUM DRAWS 300 CONCERNED RESIDENTS

Rain didn't stop 300 Westwood Plateau residents from attending a
community awareness meeting on marijuana grow operations Wednesday
night.

Five panel members, including Coquitlam Mayor Jon Kingsbury, Port
Moody-Westwood MLA Christy Clark, Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam
MP James Moore and two members of the four-person Coquitlam RCMP drug
squad, each spoke briefly about the impact of the growing number of
drug operations on the community, followed by a question-and-answer
period.

Throughout the meeting, residents expressed their increasing
frustration and anger. They clapped and cheered at suggestions for
tougher laws, deporting immigrants who become involved in grow ops and
directing money from the sale of seized property back to the
communities to fight crime.

The majority of residents also raised their hands when asked if they
would be willing to pay more taxes to fund more police officers to
target grow ops.

Other suggestions to fight grow ops included changing the Residential
Tenancy Act, increasing the cost of the equipment used by grow
operators and more action on the part of BC Hydro.

One resident, a lawyer who lives across from a grow-op house, said
police busted the grow op, but the criminals returned. She said
criminals looking to "rip off" the grow operation mistakenly entered
her home in the middle of the night. They were scared off, she said,
but left behind a meat cleaver.

Another resident, the father of young children, said he is "terrified"
by the increasing number of grow ops and said proceeds of crime
legislation will not be enough because criminals lose very little when
houses are seized in relation to the profits they make.

"I will not give it (the community) up to those bastards," another man
said.

According to the RCMP officers, who asked to remain anonymous, homes
in the Westwood Plateau appeal to grow operators who prefer the 4,000-
to 6,000-square-foot homes typically found in the upscale
neighbourhood. Many of the homes are new and have the wiring needed
for grow ops.

The Coquitlam RCMP receive an average of one call a day about a
possible grow operation in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Anmore and
Belcarra. Police typically spend 50 investigational hours from the
time the tip is received to when a search warrant is executed.

But obtaining a search warrant for a grow operation is also a
difficult process, one officer said, because of the amount of evidence
required.

The City of Coquitlam is currently drafting a bylaw that would levy
fees against homeowners for costs involved in dismantling a grow
operation and bringing a home back up to B.C. Building Code standards.
Port Coquitlam and Port Moody have similar bylaws.

Meanwhile, potential homebuyers can check with the city, which is
flagging homes through its building permit process, Kingsbury said,
and can request that a city inspector conduct an assessment of the
home.

But Kingsbury added that it's not as much about cost recovery as about
making the grow-op business less profitable. Getting 100 per cent of
the money recovered through provincial proceeds of crime legislation,
he said, is not the solution.

"The solution is where we're spending our money in the municipality -
we spend it on preventative programs," Kingsbury said. "Preventative
programs are the biggest thing because if societies keep operating the
way they do, it'll be a continual to chase and chase and chase, like a
cat chasing its tail."

Kingsbury also said residents need to get to know their neighbours.

Kingsbury said the city should continue to focus on pro-active,
preventative programs to deter criminals, rather than increasing the
number of police.

Asked how neighbourhood patrols would make a criminal involved in
organized crime feel uncomfortable, Kingsbury said, "It's not Hells
Angels who are out there doing it, it's probably people who are hooked
on drugs that are doing their work for them.

"It's some guy trying to make extra work on the side being an
electrician, some guy doing extra work putting these things together,"
Kingsbury added. "And I can almost assure you that probably a good
portion of them are high on drugs when they're doing it."

Clark said the turnout at the forum "speaks volumes about how people
feel about the issue."

Clark promised to discuss suggestions made by residents with the
solicitor general, whose ministry is working on proceeds of crime
legislation that would redirect money from the sale of seized property
back to communities to fight crime. Clark said the legislation is
expected to allow seizure of grow-op homes from the owner, regardless
of whether or not the owner or the tenant is responsible for the drug
operation.

Moore described the grow industry as "murderous" and called for more
police and tougher consequences for criminals. He said society must
also change its views about marijuana use being okay, saying that
teens who use marijuana are 85 times more likely to go on to use cocaine.

"The core of the problem, I think, is soft laws that don't treat
criminals as criminals," Moore said, later describing judges as
"weak-kneed."

Moore said lax laws and attitudes about marijuana could result in B.C.
becoming the "North American Amsterdam."