Follow-up: Judge Okays Pot Inspection Teams - Without Police

Jim Finnel

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
A landmark B.C. Supreme Court decision has upheld Surrey's initiative to clamp down on homes suspected of containing marijuana grow operations.

However, police are no longer allowed to attend the home inspections.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis launched the initiative in March 2005 after a successful pilot project in this city. Homeowners with high power consumption are notified they will be subject to an inspection. If the homeowner refuses, or a grow operation is found, the power to the home is shut off.

In May 2007, the inspection team attended the home of South Surrey residents Jason Arkinstall and Jennifer Green, who said municipal staff could enter, but police could not. The team left without inspection and had the power to the home shut off.

Arkinstall took the city to court over it, raising questions about the constitutionality of the whole inspection program.

In a judgment released Friday, Justice William Smart ruled that the Safety Standards Amendment Act, which allows electrical inspection teams to enter residences suspected of containing grow operations, does not violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

However, bringing police along for the inspection breaches Section 8 of the Charter, which protects the public against unreasonable search, Smart found.

"A police search of a private residence, even when conducted in aid of an electrical safety inspection, is intrusive," Smart wrote in his ruling. "The search and police presence during the safety inspection add a significant stigma to the inspection, imbuing it with an aura of criminality absent from a typical electrical safety inspection. These factors must be considered together with the very high expectation of privacy that attaches to a private residence."

He also noted that the disconnection of power to the Arkinstall residence was a further breach of their rights.

Garis said Monday he's extremely pleased with the ruling.

"It's an absolute win," Garis said in a cell phone interview. "What was preserved first and foremost is the legislation."

The Supreme Court ruling validates the working relationship between the provincial and municipal governments to shut down grow operations using the new method, Garis said.

The fact police officers won't be able to come to the door is an easy workaround, he said.

"It doesn't preclude them from being on the street," Garis said. "It doesn't preclude us from using security, we still haven't wrestled that one to the ground yet. Either way we can make work."

He said the days of pot growers using booby-trapped buildings and guard dogs are a thing of the past, noting his team only found a "small handful" of cases where he would consider it a property of concern.

He also noted because the program doesn't involve taking the suspected growers to court, the threat level is minimized somewhat for the team.

"There's no risk of criminal prosecution, so the stress levels aren't that high," Garis said.

Since its inception three years ago, the Surrey grow-op team has shut down almost 1,000 properties suspected of containing grow operations.

Garis has anecdotal evidence many of the growers have headed to the B.C. Interior.

The immensely popular inspection program has been mimicked by cities across the country.

With the court ruling upholding its validity, Garis acknowledged there's room for expansion.

"Homes that are suspected of being crack shacks or homes that are suspected of being used for meth ( crystal methamphetamine ) labs, these types of principles would be applicable to them," Garis said, adding it's too early to go public with initiatives being considered.

"Certainly we need to start putting our thinking caps on," Garis said, noting the court has "clearly established" the need for the safety of people living near "these sorts of activities."

Regarding the Arkinstall problem, Garis said the program has since been altered to avoid that type of intrusion.

"Early on in the process there were some growing pains with it," Garis said. "I can clearly say that... all of those issues have been addressed by way of policy revisions."

City Solicitor Craig Mcfarlane was pleased with the ruling and said the city has no intention of appealing the decision.


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Surrey Leader
Contact: newsroom@surreyleader.com
Website: Surrey Leader
 
This is the work of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts,the most anti drug,anti homeless,anti poor and anti human rights politician in the area.She went to Europe and came back with tales of 70% success rates for drug treatment and introduced drug courts where you either plead guilty and take treatment of fight the charge and don't qualify.That's typical Watts.She cherry picks data and makes up her own little reality.It's no wonder there are less homeless in Surrey than in any neighboring community.:peace:
 
Does amyone know what they consider a "marijuana grow operation"?

I'm wondering if there is some type of threshold where they take action or if they are hassling the people growing 5 or 10 plants for personal use
 
The new law reads mandatory minimum sentence of no less than 6 months must be applied upon conviction for the possession of one or more marijuana plants.The charges will be cultivation for the purpose of manufacture for sale of etc.etc.The cops usually just "wind it"if it's a small amount and not packaged for sale.Unfortunately,a lot of dealers will only carry small packages,for obvious reasons.Chances are you'll have several of these small packets if you wanted to buy more than a quarter.PPT would be the result.I think(but am not absolutely sure)that the onus is on the possessor to prove it was for personal use.That's the marvelous thing about drug laws.They morph over time to make it more and more difficult to conduct any business and make it easier and easier for the cops to take everything you own.It's also your burden to prove the items did not come from drug profits rather than for them to prove you did.Think about how hard that would be.These raids are conducted through the power company who have willingly been inducted into the anti drug task force.They check every home using more than what is considered normal power output..There have been many errors and the cities involved usually find enough code violations to cover the damage they do.There is no accounting for what the neighbors think.There is also no accounting for the fact the violations would never have arose if it hadn't been for the bogus search in the first place.There are cases before the courts.I'll post results as they come up.
 
Between the speach tribunals and this search without a warrent crap, it seems Canada is heading towards banana republic status.

I think you guys need a freedom oriented party
 
This is so backwards. WHY do to the governments of both the US and Canada keep lumping in "Crack houses" with grow ops? I dont know anyone who would consider the two equal or even the same thing. WHY? Oh yeah its so people dont figure out that Cannabis is harmless thats why... 1-5 plants are not a grow op, thats personal use. Come on...
 
:peace:It's called conservatism and it's a disease as toxic to freedom as cyanide is to the body.From a bill to decriminalise to mandatory minimum sentences in just 30 years.We were going along in the right direction until the election of the Harper conservative government put Insite at risk,ended NAOMI and brought out the goon squads to go after grow ops with the help of the fire dept and B.C.Hydro.It's like I woke up and the clock had turned back 40 years.Trouble is we still have AIDS and all the STD's that evolved in the interim.
 
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