Pubdate: Sat, 07 May 2005
Source: Tri-City News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005, Tri-City News
Contact:  http://www.tricitynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1239
Author: Al Harms
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n706/a11.html?58264

LEGAL SYSTEM, NOT CITIES, SHOULD HANDLE POT ISSUES

The Editor,

Re. "Got pot? You'll have bills, too" (page 1, The Tri-City News, April 30).

The action of Port Coquitlam council in holding landlords responsible for 
the illegal actions of their tenants is an indication of a breakdown in our 
legal system. Enforcing the law is, first and foremost, the responsibility 
of the police and the courts.

While the police seem to be doing their job, the courts have been less than 
eager to discourage marijuana grow ops by either finding some reason to 
dismiss the case (police employed wrong techniques in obtaining a search 
warrant) or otherwise handing out light sentences, etc.

Are we now expecting unarmed landlords to invite the hostility of their 
tenants by conducting regular searches? Unless the tenancy act has been 
changed, I as a landlord have no right to enter a property legally occupied 
by a tenant unless I have some specific reason to do so, much like the 
protection against searches by the police. Is a landlord now expected to 
engage in a form of vigilantism?

Let's not pass the blame for the incompetence of our legal system onto our 
landlords.

Al Harms

Coquitlam
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom