LANDLORDS SHOULD PAY GROW OP COST

It's about time the municipality and police department took action
against landlords where marijuana grow-ops are found.

Don't get me wrong, the landlords aren't the bad guys in the sense
they're not the ones growing the dope, but they do play a significant
role in what is unfortunately a flourishing industry.

It's rare that someone operating a grow-op is doing so in their own
home. There's no sense plunking down $300,000 or $400,000, only to rip
up carpeting, knock down walls, overload the circuitry and generally
destroy what you have just purchased. No, it's far better to do all
that to someone else's property.

So for grow-ops to prosper in residential neighbourhoods, as they are
doing in Delta and elsewhere, they need the assistance, or at least
the inattention, of landlords.

I don't believe any property owner would willingly rent to a grow-op
due to the damage it inflicts upon a home, and the corresponding drop
in that home's value, but a lack of vigilance on landlords' part is
allowing this activity to continue.

I realize property owners could be considered just the unwitting
victims of criminals, who, by their very nature, are devious. I know
it's not uncommon for a family to pose as the prospective tenant when
in fact the home will be turned into a grow-op. No one said it's easy
renting out a place.

But at what point do property owners take some responsibility for a
situation they've helped create? The idea to recoup costs from them to
pay for police and municipal services required in the wake of grow-op
busts, a proposal unanimously endorsed by Delta council last week,
only seems fair.

If these places weren't permitted to be turned into marijuana growing
operations, the strain on police resources would be greatly reduced,
allowing that money to be spent elsewhere, or not at all. The same
goes for the time and money expended by the municipality.

There is a very real cost to dealing with grow-ops, one we all help
shoulder each June when cutting property tax cheques. Making those who
abet this illegal activity pick up a greater share of that cost is by
no means unreasonable.

Perhaps the threat of a hefty civic fine will make landlords take a
greater interest in who they rent to as well as make them pay more
attention to their properties on a regular basis. It could, hopefully,
lead to fewer grow-ops.

Those who rent to pot growers are by no means the root of the problem,
but it would be a stretch to say they're completely blameless.