DUBIOUS DISTINCTION

Chilliwack has the dubious distinction of having the second-highest number
of home marijuana grow operations per capita in the province.

And that distinction is based solely on the number of grow-ops actually
busted by Chilliwack RCMP officers, who say there could be up to a thousand
more such operations out there in the community.

The full report of the province-wide study of marijuana grow-ops conducted
by the University-College of the Fraser Valley won't be released until
Thursday.

But City and Chilliwack RCMP officials wasted no time announcing yesterday
an enforcement clampdown they hope will have marijuana growers pulling up
stakes - and plants - and fleeing this community now.

The three-pronged attack announced by Mayor Clint Hames and RCMP Insp. Bud
Mercer includes new enforcement measures, increased prevention, and more
education.

Two more police officers are being added to the Chilliwack detachment
payroll at a cost of $160,000. They will form a "strike force" of four
officers dedicated solely to busting grow-ops. The strike force will allow
the detachment's four-officer drug section to go back to "street level"
drug enforcement instead of hunting down grow-ops.

The detachment's plainclothes section will also be re-configured to put a
greater emphases on drugs, and the bike squad directed on a daily basis to
specific crime areas, including drug enforcement.

Creating new municipal bylaws aimed at making landlords more accountable
for what goes on in rental units will also be reviewed by a City public
safety committee chaired by Councillor Sharon Gaetz.

Mayor Hames says the City will also be asking justice officials to impose
tougher sentences for those convicted with growing marijuana, and asking
the B.C. Solicitor-General for more provincial resources to combat the
grow-op problem.

Finally, Chilliwack citizens will also be asked to become more "proactive"
in reporting suspected grow-ops. Police officers can now look at hydro
meters for high electricity usage that indicates an indoor grow-op, and
even use an infra red radar detector that shows the heat that emanates from
home grow-ops. But more information is required by the courts to obtain a
search warrant to actually bust a suspected grow-op.

Most of the grow-ops busted by Chilliwack RCMP, and Mayor Hames says he
reported a suspected grow-op behind his house that resulted Friday in the
seizure of 318 marijuana plants and a quantity of heroin.

"This (UCFV) report confirms in many respects our worst fears," Mayor Hames
says. "It is telling us ... the scope of the problem is larger than we
thought it was."

He also says the report, which was not released to the media, shows
"there's a direct linkage that has been established between grow-operations
and organized crime."

And that means a potential for neighbourhood violence, fire hazards, and
the introduction of the so-called "hard" drugs into Chilliwack.

"There seems to be a little bit of a phenomena of complacency," says Insp.
Mercer, stemming from the myth that marijuana is a relatively harmless
"soft" drug grown by "mom and pop" operators for a little extra income. The
UCFV report dispels that notion.

"The reality is this stuff is being grown by organized crime," Insp. Mercer
says. "This stuff is big business. It's sold for an awful lot of money." He
says Chilliwack's high number of grow-ops could be due to its low rental
rates and its proximity to the U.S., where B.C. marijuana can be exchanged
pound-for-pound for cocaine.

"If we allow these things to proliferate ... what will come with it will be
neighbourhood violence and drive-by shootings," he says. "Proportionately,
we know that as a percentage they will hit the wrong house (in driveby
shootings) and innocent people will be hurt."

The RCMP DARE drug-awareness program in city schools will be expanded, and
the City will be including information on spotting grow-ops in municipal
tax notices.

Coun. Gaetz says the committee is getting legal advice on making landlords
more accountable, and will also be looking to create a bylaw that will give
Chilliwack citizens "the tools to be more vigilant" in reporting suspect
grow-ops.

"I think this community is about to see some action they haven't seen
before," she says.

Mayor Hames says he hopes the combination of municipal and police
enforcement, citizen awareness and tougher court sentences will discourage
marijuana grow-ops.

"This will not be a safe place for people to undertake this sort of
activity," he says.