HELP WEED OUT GROWING INDUSTRY

Cambridge has a right to be pleased about its diversified economy which
ranges from fabric manufacturing, trucking and software development to food
processing and car making.

But we have a new, growth industry that has to be of concern to city residents.

That's the proliferation of what's called pot houses or home grows: city
residences used for the cultivation of high quality marijuana, not for
living in.

Over the past two years police have raided 23 Cambridge homes and found
hydroponic gardens and crude, illegal bypasses of the hydro system to
provide the growers free use of a high volume of electricity needed for the
grow lights. The most recent raids were a week ago when two city residences
were found by police to be marijuana-growing operations.

Besides the illegality of marijuana cultivation, these homes are dangerous
to their neighbouring residences. They bring the threat of fire, as did the
one on Scott Road which burned down in December 2000. They also bring the
threat of brownout, such as happened on Dec. 23 when 126 neighbours went
without electricity for 14 hours after a grow house on The Greenway
overloaded the system.

The key to stopping the growth of this new Cambridge industry is for
watchful weed cultivation, so to speak, by neighbours.

The RCMP advises residents to notify police if they notice some of these
suspicious clues.

Grow houses have windows that are kept tightly covered to prevent light
escaping from the high-intensity 1,000-watt lamps they use.

The sounds of electrical humming, similar to a transformer on a hydro pole,
can sometimes be heard as well as fans or trickling water.

You might note inconsistencies in visitors, ranging from no visitors to
frequent visitors for short time periods. Other indicators include outdoor
or indoor lights, radio or TV operating 24 hours. Children's toys may be
left outside but there may be no children living or seen at the residence.

It's up to us to weed out this cottage industry before it's well-rooted here.