Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 2015 Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775 Author: Thandi Fletcher Page: 4 OFFICIALS LOOK TO WEED OUT SUSPECTED MARIJUANA Plant Growing in Traffic Circle Draws Suspicion Among the plants in a Vancouver traffic circle is a weed of a different kind. On Tuesday, workers for the City of Vancouver visited a roundabout on Ontario Street and 20th Avenue after receiving a complaint about a suspected marijuana plant. Taryn Scollard, the city's director of streets, couldn't confirm if the plant is in fact marijuana as she was still waiting for workers to report back. If it is confirmed to be marijuana, she said the plant would be removed and disposed of, likely composted. According to some media reports, the plant had already been removed Tuesday. Surprisingly, she said the complaint is the first the city has ever received about a suspected marijuana plant on public property. However, since volunteers care for the city's roundabouts as part of the Green Streets program, she said city staff don't typically monitor for marijuana plants. "It's never happened before," she said. "We often get inquiries about overgrown greenery regardless of what type of plant it is ... but this is a first." It's unclear who might have planted the plant. Nearby residents reportedly said they had noticed marijuana plants in other traffic circles in the neighbourhood. But Scollard said she wasn't aware of any other complaints. "Without an abundance of calls and locations, it's a little bit of a needle in a haystack if we start trying to inspect them all," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom