COLEMAN CONSIDERS REGULATION OF HYDROPONIC EQUIPMENT

Hydroponic equipment may be harder to come by, once the provincial government
has finished rethinking current legislation.

The government will start looking this fall at the possibility of regulating
the sale of hydroponic equipment, Solicitor General Rich Coleman [Fort
Langley-Aldergrove] said Friday.

The government wants to look into how it could restrict or monitor the sale of
the equipment so that the police would have access to such information, said
Coleman.

"We're just looking at whether this is something that is feasible and
worthwhile doing," Coleman said.

Hydroponics is a means of growing plants and vegetables without soil. The
system is commonly used in hothouses and greenhouses.

Hydroponics is also used to grow illegal marijuana plants. That's why, Coleman
said, the government is considering regulating the equipment involved.

"Marijuana grow-ops are the basis of organized crime," he said. "It funnels
money into everything to do with organized crime, including money laundering."

A discussion on hydroponic equipment arose during a meeting last week between
Coleman, his provincial counterparts, and the federal justice minister.

Work on the initiative will start this fall, and then will be shared with other
provinces, Coleman said.

As well as looking at regulating the growing equipment, Coleman said, the
government will also consider potential new rules for the chemicals used for
making methamphetamines, drugs known as "speed."

Both could possibly be regulated by retailers by asking them to keep track of
their customers, Coleman explained.

"What we're thinking of doing is what we do with certain types of chemicals and
fertilizers that can make explosives," he said. "We're thinking of actually
regulating it [by having them] keep a record of their customers."