A 'GROWING' CONCERN

The apparent proliferation of residential marijuana grow houses in Halton
should give residents cause for alarm on a couple of fronts.

Neighbours of homes set up for this illicit activity face a threat to their
personal safety brought on by having a criminal element operating next door.

Equally disturbing is the potential for a residential house fire caused by
hydro bypassing techniques enlisted by grow house operators. That's why it
was encouraging to hear how a citizen helped Halton police shut down yet
another marijuana grow house operation in Burlington this week.

Tuesday morning's raid of a Longmoor Drive residence yielded pot plants
with an estimated street value of $220,000 as well as $40,000 in equipment
used to grow them. It also led to the arrests of five people, including
three Americans, and one resident each from Guelph and Burlington.

Police credit a tipster's call about a potential hydro bypass at the home
for helping lead to these latest arrests and drug seizures.

Operators of grow houses normally circumvent normal residential hydro
connections in order to avoid detection by way of the home's hydro meter.
Providing marijuana plants with the 24-hour-a-day light and heat they
require to thrive uses far more hydro than your average house in the suburbs.

These do-it-yourself bypasses result in a serious fire risk to the
neighbourhoods where grow houses exist, and a safety risk to any police,
fire or hydro official on-site immediately following a raid.

This week's bust was particularly disturbing given that two infants were
found inside the home where the hydro had allegedly been diverted.

As Halton grow house raids increase in frequency, residents who call police
with suspicions about neighbouring homes have become an invaluable resource.

These citizens who keep their eyes and ears open for telltale signs of grow
houses are not only fighting crime, they could very well be saving property
and lives -- including their own.