Pubdate: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 Author: Dean Neumann Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) BUSTING GROW OPS JUST A REVENUE-MAKER FOR CITY The Editor, Re: "City cracks down on drug houses," The Now, June 13. It does not take a mathematician to figure out that if every busted grow up in Surrey garnered a $7,500 "bounty" in favour of the city's general coffers, at a rate of less than 10 drug busts a day, this means an approximate $25 million source of new revenue. This is nothing more than a shameful tax grab. What is more offensive is that it attempts to penalize the victim, not the wrongdoer, which is similar to the ridiculous anti-graffiti bylaw. Further, such a measure does nothing to prevent grow ops from existing, and once busted, simply means the operation moves to either a different location within the city or perhaps a different municipality where landlords are encouraged to uphold the basic common-law rule of quiet enjoyment in favour of their tenants. By imposing fines per bust, the city is simply licensing grow operations, which in turn will encourage larger scale and more probable ensuing damage and destruction of the premises in order to maintain the viability and profitability of this otherwise illicit business. It seems to me other municipalities have been down this same road when attempting to charge atrociously higher rates for body rub parlours as opposed to their more legitimate counterparts, registered massage therapists. If the City of Surrey was really interested in crime, it would focus on prevention and not penalizing, fining or prosecuting innocent victims of these crimes. However, my guess is that the prospect of an easy $20 to $25 million in new revenue is simply too tantalizing to pass by and surely there will be endless rhetoric from council members who support this notion. Dean Neumann, White Rock - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk