TENANT TENDING LEGAL GROW-OP

An East Side landlord and tenant are locked in a bitter dispute over the
tenant's legal marijuana grow operation, which the landlord says has made
the building ineligible for fire insurance.

Lance Van Den Nieuwendyk received a licence to grow medical marijuana from
Health Canada in February 2001 because of advanced HIV. To qualify for the
license, he had to obtain a signed note from the landlord stating he had
permission to grow pot.

Audrey Walker, caretaker for the large Grandview Drive townhouse complex
and spokeswoman for landlord Fred Hoy, said Hoy only agreed to let Van Den
Nieuwendyk grow marijuana because the latter said he was dying and only had
one year to live. More than two years later, Van Den Nieuwendyk is still in
the suite.

"Fred has a big heart and it never occurred to him to ask for a doctor's
note," said Walker, adding she can't assess the suite for damage because
Van Den Nieuwendyk has changed the locks and refuses to give her a key.

"I do know he cut a hole in the ceiling for ventilation and cut the fire
door in half to put in a fan," she said. "As for the rest of the place, I
can only imagine."

Walker said Hoy unsuccessfully tried to evict Van Den Nieuwendyk two weeks
ago on the grounds he had too many people living in his suite. In April,
Van Den Nieuwendyk's girlfriend and three children moved into the
townhouse, but since they moved out June 1, Van Den Nieuwendyk ignored the
notice to evict. Walker also alleges in a letter to the tenant that he owes
almost $10,000 in rent, an allegation Van Den Nieuwendyk calls "ridiculous."

A tour of the two-bedroom apartment showed one room covered,
floor-to-ceiling, in white plastic. Most of the floor is also covered in
plastic to protect the hardwood from the daily watering of 49 plants.

In the living room, the TV sits on a large ventilator, which is no longer
in use. Two bags of Sunshine Grow Mix Number 4 sit in the dining room and
the cat dish holds about an ounce of pot-apparently, "Smudge" prefers
marijuana to catnip.

Two large humidifiers run non-stop in the small room and Van Den Nieuwendyk
insists they ensure the space will not suffer from the mold and fungus
normally associated with grow-ops. He also promises to replace the damaged
door before he moves out.

"There is no damage to this suite that won't be repaired before I move
out," Van Den Nieuwendyk insists.

Walker said the landlord is especially nervous about fire hazards because
of a recent blaze in another suite, which prompted him to install fire
extinguishers and new smoke detectors in every suite.

Insurance companies don't distinguish between illegal grow-ops and legal
ones for medicinal marijuana, said Shari Melanson, a manager at John Ross
Insurance Services on West Broadway.

"There is no separation between actual legalized and illegal operations,"
she said. "And fire is the least of their problems. It's the mold and
fungus that grows as a result of the moisture that causes more damage than
anything."

Walker questioned the volume of pot the tenant is growing, but Van Den
Nieuwendyk maintains the 49 plants he's permitted are just enough to keep
him in the 30 to 40 joints he smokes a day to ease his pain and control his
nausea.

"The first thing I do after I wake up-well, after I finish vomiting-is
smoke a joint," he said. "It's the only thing that helps."

Van Den Nieuwendyk said traditional medications and painkillers don't work
on his advanced HIV. Pot is his only solace. He also claims the stress of
bickering with Walker has exacerbated his condition and he's been admitted
to hospital several times in the past two weeks. Now he expects to start
looking for a new place to live.

"I've had a migraine headache for 12 days," he said. "There's nothing I can
do to get rid of it. I spend all day throwing up and I have a sinus condition."

Van Den Nieuwendyk, whose most recent blood work shows he is close to
full-blown AIDS, said because he can't take the usual medications for his
condition, it will likely only take one good cold or flu to kill him.

"I consider myself lucky," he said. "I've watched other friends die of this
disease and it's terrible. I don't want to linger on like that. It might
sound cold but I'd rather go quickly."