Pubdate: Mon, 09 Mar 2015 Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775 Author: Neal Hall Page: A1 Cited: http://johnconroy.com/mmar.htm FIRE CHIEFS CLASH OVER GROW-OP RISK Court: Case challenging medical marijuana laws set to hear from two experts on whether residential grow-ops are more vulnerable to fire Surrey's fire chief has a "cultural confirmation bias" against licensed marijuana grow-ops, which is why he wrongly concludes they are more dangerous than regular residences, an expert witness will testify in a Vancouver court case. Surrey fire Chief Len Garis, an expert witness for the federal government in a constitutional challenge of Canada's medical marijuana laws, has concluded there was a higher incidence of fires at homes with both illicit and legal marijuana grow-ops. Garis will be called as a witness Monday when the case resumes in Federal Court in Vancouver. John Conroy, the lawyer representing four people who have licences to grow medical marijuana, plans to call another fire expert to rebut Garis's evidence. In an affidavit filed in court, Tom Moen, who is the fire captain and battalion chief of Fort McMurray, Alta., states that Garis has a "cultural confirmation bias" against marijuana grow-ops so he only sees evidence to confirm that homes with grow-ops have a higher incidence of fire. A fire might have started as a result of low-income residents doing renovations that don't comply with fire or building codes, or because a house is old, Moen said. Moen maintains homes with authorized medical marijuana grow sites have the same level of fire risk as other residences - 0.24 per cent. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt