Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jan 2012
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Calgary Sun
Contact:  http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Authors: Renato Gandia and Nadia Moharib

CALL FOR STRICTER POT RULES

Several residents in a southwest community are not surprised to see a 
home where marijuana was being legally grown shuttered after being 
deemed unfit for human habitation.

Despite it being an address Health Canada had licenced to produce 
medicinal marijuana, many neighbours of the Windsor Park home say 
they long suspected what was going on behind closed doors and are 
happy to see officials put an end the operation.

The strong, distinct odour of pot often wafted in the air and there 
was also a concerning steady stream of visitors to the house, said 
several neighbours including a father who said the presence of drugs, 
in part, prompted his family to move out of the community.

Jim Waugh, seeing a fence surrounding the home Thursday, said he was 
hardly stunned to see officials had moved in.

"oeI'm sure all those people didn't have prescriptions,"  said Waugh, 
who had no issues with the residents but didn't like drugs being 
grown so close to home.

A day after officials moved in, city officials vented about the 
inability to get their hands on a list of licensed medical marijuana 
grow-ops in Calgary because Health Canada doesn't share it.

Health Canada releases the number of sanctioned grow ops in Canada, 
but doesn't specify locations.

Wayne Brown with the city's Co-ordinated Safety Response Team (CSRT) 
said their main beef is that these operations should follow rules strictly.

"oeWe would like all these houses to comply with regulations, with 
bylaw and safety codes,"  he said.

"oeI think working with Health Canada certainly into the future we'll 
get a handle on this."

Brown said officials only knew of two medical marijuana grow-ops in 
the city, the recently closed one and another one where a deadly 
explosion occurred back in Oct. 1, 2011.

A 42-year-old man injured in that blaze lived in the Windsor Park 
home shuttered on Wednesday, and died earlier this month.

There were allegedly about three times the number of plants permitted 
by the licence found in the home.

Officials with CSRT investigated the explosion and tips from the 
public led them to the second location, where multiple safety 
infractions were found including building code infractions, 
compromised air intakes, toxins, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer 
and potential contamination of drinking water.

The city plans on talking with Health Canada officials about the two incidents.

As of January 2010, Alberta had 322 permits to possess medicinal marijuana.
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