Pubdate: Sat, 20 Apr 2013
Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Peterborough Examiner
Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/letters
Website: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616
Page: 4

DRUG HOUSE REGISTRY COULD BE PARTNERSHIP

Real estate agents and their provincial association popped up twice 
in police stories in the past few days.

Fortunately both were good news stories - or at least the realtors 
were on the right side of the law.

On Wednesday, Ron Dorner, president of the Ontario Real Estate 
Association, talked to Examiner reporter Galen Eagle about a campaign 
to have the provincial government set up a registry of homes that 
have been used as drug production labs or marijuana grow-ops.

It's a good idea. Homes used by gangs or cartels as drug factories 
usually come out in very rough shape. Grow-ops in particular are 
notorious for heat and humidity damage and residual mould. Future 
owners should know they need to take more than a surface look at what 
appears to be pristine drywall and paint, among other potential problems.

Dorner lucked out when city police raided a grow-up in an 
upper-middle income neighbourhood the same day he spoke to our 
reporter. The real estate association's message received a boost the 
next day from photos of police carrying pot plants out the front door 
of an attractive brick home.

On Thursday, local real estate agents announced they were partnering 
with police in a city-wide neighbourhood watch program. No special 
monitoring or hotline is required - the real estate community has 
simply committed to keeping an eye out for vandalism, break-ins or 
other crime when agents are out doing their jobs.

It seems the provincial effort could learn something from the local one.

While a grow-op registry would be helpful, setting it up would likely 
not be as simple for the province as the realtors suggest. Consider 
the time, money and headaches that officials went through before a 
gun registry (since dismantled) or sex offender registry were finally 
up and working.

However, the OREA could help make a registry a reality. It's a big 
organization, with more than 55,000 members and $36 million in 
revenue in 2012. Between clipping services that would deliver 
information on drug houses from media outlets across the province and 
co-operation from the provincial court system, the OREA could develop 
its own registry.

It has a website where members could go to check the registry, and 
regular newsletters and bulletins to generate updates. The registry 
could also be posted on the public-access section of the OREA website 
so all potential buyers would be aware.

Governments have access to a lot of valuable information and the 
private sector has existing formats to get that information out to 
people. Combining the two assets should be more efficient than 
starting from scratch at one end.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom