Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jun 2010
Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.burnabynow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1592
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

WHEN PRIVACY RIGHTS AND SAFETY ISSUES COLLIDE

B.C. Court of Appeal's ruling is wrong-headed and will only work to 
help grow-op criminals escape prosecution

Burnaby Now June 5, 2010   In a remarkable bit of backwards thinking, 
the B.C. Court of Appeal has put handcuffs on a law enforcement 
initiative that works to reduce the impact of marijuana 
grow-operations in local communities.

While we understand the court's willingness to value the right to 
privacy, it's difficult to understand how that value supersedes the 
safety concerns surrounding intense use of electricity - usually 
stolen and often dangerously rerouted - involved in many grow-ops.

It started with the case of Arkinstall et al vs. Surrey et al, 
brought by two residents of Surrey who refused to allow safety 
inspectors to enter their home as long as they insisted on being 
accompanied by police officers.

The inspectors were abiding by provisions of B.C.'s Safety Standards 
Act that - until struck down by the B.C. Appeal Court in May - let 
municipal and fire inspectors enter into anyone's home for safety 
inspections if they suspected the home was being used to grow marijuana.

The Appeals Court ruled that such inspections violate the Charter of 
Rights and Freedoms and that, in future, administrative warrants will 
be required.

That would still allow the inspections to take place, the court 
maintains, but would reasonably protect individual privacy.

And it would give marijuana growers the heads-up they need to clear 
out and restart their operations in a new neighbourhood.

Once again, law enforcement gets the run-around, and it would seem 
criminals get the breaks.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom