BEST TOOL IN THE KIT

Marijuana grow-ops are no joke in the Tri-Cities, where hardly a week
goes by without a bust or a raid. And area residents are increasingly
at risk of being in the line of fire when criminals try to steal from
criminals.

Sadder still is the plight of children living in homes that house
grow-ops, who must be shunted off to foster care when their parents
are charged while their homes, hard-wired to suck up electricity,
make for dangerous living conditions for both the inhabitants and
their neighbours.

It's no surprise, then, that police and city officials are using what
tools they have to enter and shut down these indoor pot farms.
Coquitlam is ready to adopt the Public Safety Inspection Program,
which gives police and inspectors the clout to enter homes with high
energy consumption within 48 hours notice, and to charge the
homeowners $5,000 in fees associated with the safety inspection.

There is some concern these powers are too broad for the
circumstances and could entrap an innocent hobbyist with an
electricity-draining collection of aquariums or over-developed model
train set. But those circumstances would be rare, if not improbable.

Even so, most Coquitlam residents would probably put public safety
over individual rights if it would make their neighbourhoods safer.
As it is, there are few other ways, except power consumption, to
identify a grow-op, especially today, when people are rarely home
during the day and don't always know their neighbours.

Some might argue this so-called war on drugs, which requires
pot-growers to go underground -- or, in many cases, the basement --
to avoid detection is getting increasingly dangerous and costly while
accomplishing very little. Evidence for this line of thought is in
the sheer number and audacity of neighbourhood pot growers and the
fact that no sooner is one busted than another pops up somewhere else.

But until someone comes up with a better idea, this get tough program
is the best tool cities have to push pot farmers out.