MONTHLY INSPECTIONS WOULD STOP GROW OPS

Will Operation Green Clean Wipe Out Marijuana, Or Will It Place A Scarlet
Letter On All Renters?

Property manager Ben Larsson of Interlink Realty was critical of the city's
new program dealing with the grow-op problem because he believes it will
single out renters in every neighbourhood in Richmond.

"What they've proposed sounds almost punitive (to renters)...let's keep an
eye on them and watch them 24 hours per day. It's almost absurd.

"These people that rent, they're not rapists or child molesters. What's
next, put a big M on their forehead I guess?"

Larsson believes the solution to weeding out marijuana is simple: monthly
property inspections.

Two years ago, Interlink began doing property inspections every 30 to 45
days and informing people looking to rent that it would be doing so at all
of its properties.

"We haven't had one since we started the program," he said.

That's compared to the three marijuana operations they discovered in the
eight-month period prior to implementing the inspections.

"(The City of Richmond is) trying to solve a problem by taking a tool out
of the wrong tool box."

Property owners and landlords need to be vigilant and inspect their
properties monthly, he said.

Since a marijuana crop takes 90 days to mature, would-be growers are likely
to shy away from places that are regularly inspected.

B.C. bud growers are often clever enough to fool property managers, Larsson
said, so someone who isn't in the business day-to-day can easily fall victim.

Larsson was also critical of B.C. Hydro, which cites privacy laws for
refusing to share billing information on properties that have seen a
dramatic increase in power consumption-a telltale sign of a marijuana
operation. After he became suspicious of one property and turned to B.C.
Hydro, he wasn't given the billing information.

But after the tenant moved out and Interlink paid the power bills again,
B.C. Hydro turned over all of the billing information-including that of the
previous tenant.

"All these people growing grass is good for their bottom line," Larsson
said of B.C. Hydro.