Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2001
Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.burnabynow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1592
Author: Bill McCarthy - Burnaby NOW On the Market columnist
Note: Bill McCarthy is president and CEO of W.P.J. McCarthy & Co. Ltd., a
Burnaby firm specializing in property management and development.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

GROWING POT COSTS TAXPAYERS

The cultivation of marijuana is big business in British Columbia. With 
estimates ranging from $4 to 6 billion, all tax-free, marijuana has become 
our province's biggest cash crop.

However, the negative consequences of so-called grow-ops are not restricted 
to the effects the product has on the human body and mind.

In order to fuel the growth in grow-ops and the dependency hundreds of 
thousands of our citizens have on drugs, law-abiding taxpayers are being 
victimized.

The proposed action being contemplated by the city of Surrey deserves to be 
carefully considered and not dismissed out of hand.

Tired of seeing almost a million dollars of taxes go towards the 
surveillance, shutting down and damage caused by grow-ops when operated 
from rented residential properties, Surrey mayor Doug McCallum wants to 
assess a penalty of $7,500 on negligent landlords who allow their rental 
properties to be used for this illegal purpose.

Without the threat of this penalty, the mayor argues, landlords will not 
monitor their properties more effectively.

Regardless of your position on drugs, it cannot be denied that British 
Columbia has become a desired place for drug dealers to operate. Police 
estimate there are between 15,000 to 20,000 grow-ops in Greater Vancouver. 
They are located in every class of neighbourhood.

The reason for their proliferation is the lure of tremendous economic gain 
with minor punishment, if apprehended at all. The average grow-op crop 
yields $300,000, tax free, with sophisticated operations generating three 
harvests per year.

In order to begin your grow-op, all you require is a rental home and 
between $5,000 and $20,000 worth of equipment. And, if you are caught, the 
average penalties are laughable, usually a fine of $1,000 to $3,000 for 
first-time offenders. It is no wonder that criminal gangs and organized 
crime control the majority of the drug trade.

Should landlords be fined if they allow their house to be used as a 
grow-op? They will already suffer if their property has been violated.

In addition to the extensive damage the operators will do to the premises, 
the high humidity required to grow pot will create mould and wood decay 
that will severely damage the entire structure. Insurance will not cover 
their losses.

Clearly, much of this problem would be solved if landlords or their agents 
better screened their prospective tenants and conducted regularly scheduled 
inspections of their property.

Finally, it is not just the owners of these grow-ops who are victimized by 
drugs. Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are spent on the war on drugs 
and the treatment of addicts.

It is estimated that 80 per cent of all property crimes are drug-related as 
addicts must steal to feed their drug habit, a dependency that makes them 
largely unable to secure and hold a regular job.

Therefore, even if drugs were legal, how will the addicts pay for their 
vice when the effects of the drugs render them unfocused and unproductive?
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MAP posted-by: Beth