Someone is operating a licensed medicinal marijuana grow operation within walking distance of a 91原创 elementary school.
The only reason 91原创 RCMP Superintendent Derek Cooke knows this is because his officers have been there twice to investigate attempted grow rips.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather not see them at all,鈥� Cooke says of the grow-ops.
But if they are going to be permitted, police should know where they are and they should be subject to safety inspections, he says.
People who apply for the licences from Health Canada are told local police may be notified, but that doesn鈥檛 seem to be happening.
There is no process in place for police to be advised, no process for inspections, Cooke complains.
Over the past six months, three 91原创 medical marijuana growing operations have been robbed.
The most recent was Sunday, March 6, in Brookswood when two armed men forced their way into a home, tied up the occupant and removed the cultivated pot plants growing in the garage.
Before that, on Dec. 26, 2010, five people, two of them armed, staged a home invasion of a licensed marijuana growing operation in the Fernridge area of South 91原创.
The plants were not fully grown so they were left behind, but the thieves took a computer and cell phone.
And on Oct. 12, 2010, a residence in Willoughby that was licensed to grow marijuana was robbed by three armed men.
Under Canadian law, people who can establish a medical reason for using marijuana to treat chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis can get a licence to grow pot for their personal use, or they can have someone else grow it for them.
Most licences are for between 49 and 196 plants and they do not stipulate how large the plants can be and how much they are allowed to produce, Cooke says.
There is evidence that some people are misusing their small-scale licences using them to provide a veneer of respectability to much larger illicit grow-ops.
In one case, not in 91原创, Cooke says a police raid on a medicinal grow-op licenced to grow 73 plants found 1,700
Figures provided by the RCMP to The Times show a dramatic increase in the number of legal marijuana growing operations in the province, with the numbers more than doubling from January 2010 to February 2011.
Growing permits for personal use increased from 817 to 1,766, while the number of 鈥渄esignated鈥� permits for people growing pot for others to consume rose from 320 to 819.
There are 13 times as many people allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes in B.C., increasing from 231 a year ago to 2,995.
On Tuesday, the mayors of both 91原创s sent a letter to the federal minister of health warning about a lack of 鈥渁dequate inspections, enforcement, controls and oversight鈥� over medicinal grow-ops.
鈥淲e know, based on actual cases, that there is significant misuse of many of the licences and the volume of product produce often exceeds an individual鈥檚 personal requirement...鈥� said the letter signed by Peter Fassbender and Rick Green.
The letter, also sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, 91原创 MP Mark Warawa, premier-designate Christy Clark, Solicitor-General Rich Coleman and others, complains growth of medicinal marijuana operations is 鈥渙ut of control.鈥�
Fassbender and Green want the grow-op licences cancelled.
They say pot should be dispensed through pharmacies instead.
Supt. Cooke agrees, saying no other drugs are produced in backyard labs.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why this substance has to be treated differently.鈥�
Anyone with information regarding the 91原创 robberies is asked to call 91原创 RCMP at 604-532-3200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
