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Grow-ops targeted - Province moves to toughen hydro legislation
Source: Torstar News Service, Metro (CN ON), 10-20-04

Within hours of police dismantling another indoor marijuana grow operation in Scarborough, Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter announced steps to "control" their proliferation.

Kwinter said the proposed legislation would allow electrical distributors to cut hydro to homes suspected of growing pot without notice, "in accordance with a court order or for emergency, safety or system-reliability reasons."

Police officials applauded the move to stem what Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino yesterday called an "epidemic" of grow-ops.Toronto police have dismantled 248 indoor grow operations this year.

But one opposition critic said the proposed legislation is "shallow" and accused the government of misleadingly selling it as something that could actually help eliminate illegal grow-ops. "This will not eradicate grow-ops, not as long as there is a market and huge profits to be made," MPP Peter Kormos (NDP, Niagara Centre) said after Kwinter introduced the legislation.

The new legislation doesn't give local utilities any new powers, but enshrines into statute what already exists in the Fire Protection and Prevention Act. An official at Hydro One confirmed utilities have the authority to pull the plug for a variety of reasons, such as non-payment and suspected theft of power.

Kwinter said the new law will also require building inspections of all homes, after police have confirmed a grow-op, and order repairs which would "protect people from purchasing a property that would require thousands of dollars of repairs."

The bill also doubles maximum penalties for things such as tampering with wiring, which can cause excessive heating and possibly lead to a fire, and establishes an account so that proceeds of seized assets from grow-ops, such as real estate and cars, are earmarked for enforcement and victim compensation.

- Torstar News Service

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Instant CMAP Response:

(Please distribute widely)

TORONTO POLICE Chief Julian Fantino likened decriminalizing marijuana to legalizing murder yesterday as he rejected arguments that legal pot would cut down on organized crime now growing it. "I guess we can legalize murder too and then we won't have a murder case. We can't go that way," Fantino said.

"I don't know what the medical properties of marijuana are or aren't, or whether it's good or bad," he added. "The fact remains that marijuana today is a very, very significant concern and it's illegal and, as such, we have to deal with it."

Murder, eh? I think medpot patients should give him an earful. His attitude is the one that promotes murder.

Chief Julian Fantino
Julian.Fantino@torontopolice.on.ca
416-808-8000