Pubdate: Sat, 04 Feb 2012
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2012 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Sally Austin

MEDICAL POT GROW IS MAKING ME SICK

I have to laugh when I hear the pot growers whining about their 
rights being violated because they are being prevented from having 
access to their "medicine."

I recently had new neighbors move in next door. Within days, they had 
converted the second dwelling unit (a mother-in-law studio apartment) 
into an indoor growing operation. On a daily basis, there is the 
sound of a commercial fan from morning to night and the overwhelming 
skunk odor of pot.

It is literally making me sick. I now have migrainelike headaches and 
nausea every day. I cannot go into my backyard or walk to the mailbox 
without getting sick. I work from home, so cannot get away from this; 
the smell comes into my house through the kitchen vent which is on 
the side of my house adjacent to their growing operation. It takes 
one to two hours before my symptoms go away - and that is for each 
time I go outside or the smell comes into my kitchen.

My rights are definitely being violated. How about my right to the 
use and enjoyment of my property? Why do I have to be subjected to 
this just because they feel they have the right to grow pot? I would 
guess from the pervasiveness of the smell that they are definitely 
over the limit for personal use. They don't own this property, and as 
far as I know a 215 card does not give them the right to alter the 
rental property for their growing purposes.

I have complained to the property owner, who is an elderly woman and 
lives out of the area. She assures me her tenants are only 
hydroponically growing palm trees - because they told her so!

As the former owner of a residential property management company, I 
have firsthand knowledge of the damage that can be caused by indoor 
growing operations. It can be in the multi-thousands of dollars. Once 
the smell gets into the sheet rock, the carpets and the paint, you 
cannot get it out without completely replacing these things. Toilets 
are taken out to run water lines, electrical and heating systems are 
compromised by people directly tapping the electrical boxes and the 
heating vents. Water damage rots floors and carpets, holes are cut 
into subfloors underneath carpet to run water lines, and fires are 
caused by high-wattage grow lights.

I demand the right to the full use and enjoyment of my property, 
without being subjected to a daily dose of illness causing skunk 
smell. This "right" they claim is ruining my life, and I am 
(literally) sick of it.

Sally Austin, Redding
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom