COPS FIND KIDS LIVING IN GROW HOUSES

When drug squad cops arrived at a Woodbridge home armed with a search
warrant last month, they found what they expected: 150 marijuana
plants in a grow lab.

What they were surprised to find was people living in the house,
including a nine-year-old child.

The discovery, in a residential neighbourhood like many others in the
region, is indicative of what York Regional Police are calling a
disturbing trend: children living in homes that have been converted to
marijuana grow labs.

"I call them marijuana factories," said Det. Mike Klimm of the drugs
and vice squad. "They're not the closet grows we used to see."

And with increasing frequency, drug officers are seeing grow houses
that do not fit the prototypical operation they've seen in the past.

For years now, police have been telling the public to watch out for
homes that seem suspiciously quiet or uninhabited.

That's because marijuana growers often rent homes with no intention of
living in them, instead devoting as much space inside as possible to
the lights, pots and exhaust systems needed to fuel their operations.

But with increasing frequency, police are finding people living amidst
the grow operations, often with children, Det. Klimm said.

In the past 10 months, 18 kids, aged two to 17, have been found living
in such homes, police said.

Det. Klimm said in some instances, families are used as fronts for
grow operations.

"(Growers) will hire people with kids to look after the house," he
said. "We call them farmers.

"If you have kids, it's better."

Whenever police find children living in such conditions, the
Children's Aid Society is called immediately. Sometimes, the children
end up in CAS custody.

Police Chief Armand La Barge, who has ranked the eradication of grow
houses among his priorities, said there's more to the issue than
objecting to children being brought up in the drug culture.

"(Grow houses) are absolutely death traps," he said. "There are cords
and wires everywhere -- the hydro is juiced up."

Residents living among hundreds of marijuana plants can also be
exposed to chemicals used to promote growth, as well as mould from the
excessive amounts of water used on the plants, the chief said.

"There are all kinds of hidden dangers associated with
this."

York CAS executive director Martin McNamara said his agency is
routinely called in when police lay charges in grow house busts.

The agency will generally assume custody of kids whose parents are
placed under arrest, he said.

But criminal charges don't necessarily mean the CAS will press for
long-term custody of the children, if there's no evidence of neglect
or abuse.

The CAS may try to place the children with members of their extended
family, Mr. McNamara said.

Returning the children to their parents would be subject to a great
deal of scrutiny.

"We wouldn't just remove the child because somebody has been charged,"
Mr. McNamara said. "(But) we would ... look at how (charges) would
impact on the case and supervision of the child."

Chief La Barge said youngsters living in grow houses can be subjected
to criminal activity.

"We have homicides, home invasions and robberies associated with this
kind of pursuit," he said.

"And (the children) have absolutely no choice whatsoever."