MEDICAL MARIJUANA A POTENTIAL HEADACHE FOR LANDLORDS

It may come as a surprise to landlords, but Canada's medical marijuana
program does not require tenants growing marijuana for personal, medicinal
use to ask permission.

Jirina Vlk, a spokeswoman for Health Canada, which oversees the Cannabis
Medical Access program, says only those authorized to grow medicinal pot
for others are required to ask their landlords.

"If they are designated to be growing for someone else, or a third party
grower, then they must get the landlord's permission in order to be
authorized," she said. "Other than that, they don't."

On Wednesday, the Courier told the story of a tenant and landlord locked in
a dispute over the 49 marijuana plans the tenant is growing legally in his
rental unit.

Lynda Pasacreta, chief executive officer of the B.C. Apartment Owners
Association, which has 1,100 members in B.C., said she was unaware of the
lack of permission requirement and strongly disagrees with it. "That's just
crazy," she said. "I can't believe it."

Because any known marijuana grow operation would invalidate fire, theft and
damage insurance, or prevent landlords from obtaining insurance, Pasacreta
said it's not likely many landlords would give permission for such an activity.

"It affects the safety of other tenants and that's a huge issue," she said.
"Anyone operating a grow-op without telling their landlord is bound to be
in breach of terms of their tenancy."

Al Kemp, head of the Rental Owners and Managers Association of B.C., said
he's keeping an eye on a possible precedent-setting case on Vancouver
Island in which a tenant was evicted for having a legal medical-marijuana
grow-op on the grounds that it was putting other tenants at risk. The
eviction held up under arbitration, but Kemp said he wouldn't be surprised
to see the tenant take the issue to court. "The outcome would be very
interesting."

To legally possess marijuana or grow the plants, applicants must be
terminally ill and expected to die within a year, or suffer from symptoms
associated with certain medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis,
spinal cord injury, spinal cord disease, cancer, AIDS/HIV infection, severe
arthritis and epilepsy.

Applicants must provide a medical declaration that states, among other
things, that all conventional treatments have been tried or considered and
that the benefits of using marijuana outweigh the risks.

According to Health Canada's Office of Cannabis Medical Access, 490 people
across the country are authorized to possess or grow marijuana, and 292
doctors are eligible to recommend clients to the program.

Eighty-three of those licences and 55 of the doctors are in B.C. As much as
B.C. has a reputation of being one of the pot-growing capitals of the
world, that's only about a third of Ontario's 229 licenses and 118
authorized doctors.

Pasacreta said marijuana grow operators are typically responsible for more
damage than they can pay for. That leaves the landlord holding the bag,
since insurance companies don't cover damage due to grow operations.

Dennis Prouse, government relations manager for the Insurance Bureau of
Canada, said whether a grow-op is legal makes no difference to the way the
industry handles policies or claims.

"They look at risk factors," he said. "And there is a lot of risk involved
with grow-ops."

The main risk is fire, because of changes to wiring and overloading of
circuits, but theft and break-ins are also a concern. Condensation on
walls, floors and carpets is a huge problem because it creates mold and
fungus that costs thousands of dollars to get rid of.

Prouse said in order to protect themselves, landlords need to be vigilant
and take responsibility for what's happening in their rental properties.

Pasacreta agreed, pointing out that under the new Residential Tenancy Act,
due to come into effect this summer, landlords have more rights and should
be taking advantage of them.

A good place to start is during the application stage, she said, when
landlords should carefully check credit and personal references and speak
with at least two former landlords. "It's up to former landlords to
acknowledge problems they had with a tenant."

Landlords should also arrange an inspection one month after a tenant moves
in, with the proper notice, she said. If they have any concerns, they
should arrange monthly inspections, which are permissible under the new act.

"Landlords have inspection rights and they need to take advantage of them.
If they set a precedent right away growers will stay away," she said.
"These grow-ops have created a pain for everybody."