ANSWERS SOUGHT ON LEGAL GROW-OP

New Westminster police and city hall want answers to a multitude of
questions now that a licensed marijuana grow operation has been established
in Queensborough.

The grow-op is located on Boyne Street and its owners are licensed by
Health Canada to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal use.

Organized by the Merlin Project, which seeks to make the drug readily
available for such purposes, the Queensborough operation was the site of a
news conference held for some local media last Monday. They explained that
the drug is processed into concentrated pellets of THC, or
tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in the plant, which can be
injested instead of smoked.

New Westminster police Staff Sgt. Casey Dehaas said there are concerns over
the operation's impact on the community and on drug-related police
investigations.

Police want to know whether the grow-operations, which typically require a
lot of electricity to run, have been set up safely.

And, he asked, how secure is it from people who might want to steal the crop?

But perhaps most disconcerting for police is the licenced operations'
effect on police investigations. Dehaas said judges could turn down
applications for search warrants if police cannot determine whether the
suspected grow-operations are licensed or not. Information on licensees is
protected by privacy laws. "This could very well jeopardize us getting
search warrants."

If information on the licensed operations is deemed private, who is going
to monitor them and make sure the operators are not simply selling or
giving away the crop. "Where's the control?" Mayor Helen Sparkes said it's
hoped staff will have some answers by Monday's council meeting. She said
she doesn't have a problem with marijuana being used for medicinal
purposes, but always expected it would be cultivated in an industrial
setting and not in a house in a residential neighbourhood.

"Other medicines are highly scrutinized and inspected. This one is just
kind of out there." Gavin Palmer, president of the Queensborough Residents'
Association, called the lack of consultation another example of the
different levels of governments not working together. Told of the licensed
grow-operation, the association's executive was most concerned about the
safety and security issues.

Andrew Swift, spokesperson for Health Canada, stressed that the licenses
only exempt licensees from the laws around possession and cultivation of
marijuana. "It doesn't exclude them from all laws.

"If there is a no-smoking bylaw, [licensees] would still be subject to that."

Health Canada's only role is to grant the license, Swift said from Ottawa.
It does not monitor licensees. If they are selling or giving away what they
produce to people who don't have licenses to possess it, that would be
considered drug trafficking, and thus, a policing issue, he said. The
licenses are granted to people only for medical purposes and only for their
own use. Applications must be supported by documentation from doctors
showing all other methods of treatment have been tried and are considered
inappropriate or not suitable. "This is a situation of last resort for
people," Swift said.

The location of the grow-op must be specified on the license which is only
valid for a maximum of 12 months. After that, people must reapply, in case
new medical treatments become available so the marijuana is no longer
needed, Swift said.

The licensing program started in 1999. About 817 people across Canada are
now licensed to possess marijuana with the majority also licensed to
cultivate it for their own use. Licensees can also designate others to
cultivate it for them if their living situation doesn't permit them to grow
it on their own.