Pubdate: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2011 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Angela Hall, Leader-Post BUSTED GROW-OPS GO ONLINE A new online database provides a window into what Saskatchewan buildings may have housed marijuana grow operations in the past year. The page on the RCMP website, launched this week as part of a national marijuana strategy, shows where grow operations or "clandestine labs" have been dismantled under the authority of a search warrant in Canada. Three Regina addresses are listed, including a bust in December 2010 where 628 marijuana plants were found, and one as recent as this past April involving 18 plants. The website also lists addresses in Assiniboia, Viscount, Waseca and Bulyea, plus an outbuilding in a rural area and a rural residence. The point of it all is to raise public awareness about the potential health and safety hazards that these drug operations pose within the community, said Chan Dara, national marijuana grow-ops co-ordinator for the RCMP. Grow-ops can damage a home by way of mould or electrical or structural modifications, which if they aren't addressed or disclosed can cause problems, Dara said. "That's the purpose of the website, that grow operations are prevalent across the country and still a lot of Canadians don't feel that it affects them and don't think about looking for those clues when they look at buying a new house. This website, we're hoping, will raise their awareness to the potential signs of grow operations." Addresses stay on the site for a year. But it's not an exhaustive list, he said. "It's not to be relied upon to be a definitive answer of whether a house contained a grow-op or not. We want the Canadian citizens to be aware and ask the right questions when purchasing a house or other properties, just to protect themselves," he said. The RCMP works in partnership with other police agencies across the country to combat drug operations. Dara said it's hoped that over the next few months the database will publish as many grow-ops searched by the RCMP as possible, including ones involving other police partners. "That's still a work in progress because we have a lot of joint forces investigations throughout the country." The database includes how many plants were seized in each situation. The largest number from the Saskatchewan list -- 628 --pales in comparison to the biggest on Alberta's list, which was 3,338 plants seized, or Manitoba, where one grow-op had 3,551 plants seized. The marijuana grow initiative can be found at www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/drugsdrogues/mgi-ircm/index-eng.htm - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.