POLICE CALL GROWBUSTERS

One of these days you may open your front room curtains to see a
Growbusters sign on a neighbour's lawn.

It means somebody's been busted for growing marijuana in a house in your
neighbourhood.

"Every time the local detachment does a bust at a grow op, they will put up
the sandwich board," Const. Gus Papagiannis said.

Growbusters is a new program involving the Campbell River RCMP and a
coalition of substance abuse organizations. The purpose is to get
neighbourhoods involved in fighting so-called "grow shows" or "grow ops
(operations)" in rental houses around Campbell River. The program has been
successful in other communities in the country, most recently in the Comox
Valley. The plan is to educate homeowners about the tell-tale signs of a
grow op in your neigbourhood and, through the Growbusters sign, inform them
that this kind of activity is going on in the neighbourhood.

"One of the purposes of it=85is to get people on board with envisioning
what kind of community and what kind of neighbourhood they want to have,"
said Jodie McDonald, community coordinator for the Community Alcohol and
Drug Action Committee, a coalition of community substance abuse groups.

Besides the Growbusters sign, there is a pamphlet on recognizing marijuana
grow operations in your neighbourhood which will be distributed by Citizens
on Patrol after the grow op has been busted. The pamphlet lists the warning
signs of a grow op.