Pubdate: Fri, 17 Jan 2014
Source: South Delta Leader (Delta, CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 South Delta Leader
Contact:  http://www.southdeltaleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1241
Author: Adrian MacNair

NEW MARIJUANA LAWS GIVE MORE POWER TO POLICE, CITIES

Delta is determined to keep a short leash on marijuana grow-ops within
the municipality, thanks in part to a new federal law that will
provide better transparency to police and cities.

As of April 1, an estimated 11,500 legal marijuana grow-ops run by
licensed users authorized by Health Canada are supposed to either shut
down or apply for a business license within the municipality in which
it operates.

On Jan. 6, Delta Council directed staff to bring forward amendments to
the Delta Zoning Bylaw to prohibit all aspects of the growing,
production, manufacturing, testing, storage and sales of medical
marijuana within its boundaries. Businesses wishing to establish
medical marijuana grow-ops in Delta will be required to apply for site
specific zoning, which has yet to be determined by council.

It's a marked change from the old laws, which allowed grow-ops to
exist in a practically clandestine manner with approval required only
from the federal government.

"One of the things that we noticed very early on was that the old
legislation created some difficulties in the neighbourhoods in which
they were going to be placed mainly because there was going to be no
checks or balances," said Delta Mayor Lois Jackson.

She said that sometimes the municipality would only learn about these
locations after police investigations were launched into homes
suspected of usage as a grow-op.

Currently, Delta has permitted one legal marijuana grow-op to operate
within an industrially-zoned area of Delta. Jackson said Delta and
other municipalities are reluctant to permit marijuana grow-ops on
farmland or in residential areas because of the risk of violence and
criminal elements associated with the narcotic.

"It's kind of funny because Vancouver has said, well we will only
allow them in agricultural areas," said Jackson. "But they don't have
any agricultural areas."

Delta Police Chief Const. Jim Cessford welcomes the fact police will
no longer be "kept in the dark" about where grow-ops are located in
the community. Under the old laws, they would usually find out about a
grow-op only by calling Health Canada after investigating the home for
unusual electricity consumption or neighbourhood complaints.

"We would call them and say we have authorization to execute a search
warrant at this location," he said. "Can you tell us if it's a
registered grow-op. Sometimes they'd say yeah, and obviously when they
said no then we moved ahead."

Sometimes, police would still execute a search warrant on a registered
grow-op if there was suspicion the facility was in possession of more
plants than it was licensed to produce.

The new law will require medical marijuana producers to notify local
police and government about their intent to grow. Cessford said he has
already received a half dozen notices from growers in advance of the
changes.

Growers would be required to apply for a business license from the
municipality, while Delta Police will provide criminal background
checks on applicants to assess whether the business poses a risk to
public safety.

"With these grow-ops sometimes they present the opportunity for crime
so sometimes you get those home invasions or business invasions so one
of the things that we'll be really, really looking at closely here is
the security arrangements," he said.

Cessford said grow-ops with alarms, walls, or security cameras present
a lower likelihood criminals will target the home or business. The new
law will allow police the opportunity for inspections of legal
grow-ops to make assessments on security.

"But I think it's fair to say right now there are more unanswered
questions than answered. There are still a whole lot of things out
there that we're unsure about."  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D