Alan2005

There the police and local state have the authority to look at your power consumption and if it's deemed inappropriate they can get a warrant to search your house. Ok, I don't think that using a lot of power is enough in itself to merit this, but others do, so fair enough.

However, what happens is that the police exercise the warrant, smash your house up, and then send you a $5,000 bill to pay for the search, which is on top of any damage they've done while looking for marijuana. You have to pay, even if you are completely innocent. What a fcked up country...

Steve_P

I heard about this the other day.

A quick search came up with this: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Civ...263/story.html

The bylaw was apparently suspended last January but it sure sounds like a total f**k up.

Oink

I would have thought this type of practice-extortion would have been challenged in the courts.

Alan2005

There is a class action lawsuit going on from people who've been affected. I can't say I blame them - this kind of tin-pot activity shouldn't really have been allowed.

Atlantic Xpat

In a similarish vein, HM Customs & Revenue in the UK can strip your car apart, unpack your container and enter your premises without a warrant if they suspect you of smuggling. You are then responsible for rectifying the mess they've caused. I imagine that customs here have similar powers. Facists eh? Wouldn't have those problems in North Kor....oh hang on.

Oink

I wonder if this type of practice is borne out of frustration with the social maladies that infect a small rural town by pot growing gangs? I also wonder if this type of measure wasn't designed to get a reaction from larger powers? That said, it's pretty stupid to penalize your own law abiding constituents. So, they're probably just small town idiots.

peas

So I guess that if you're going to use a lot of hydro, you might as well run a grow-op as well. Then when you get the bill for $5000 you'll have the dough to pay it.

Almost Canadian

On the other hand, if you get a friend to report you to the police on the basis that you have murdered people and have buried them in your back yard, you may be able to get the local police to rotovate your back yard for free if no such dead people exist

CanadaJimmy

Does seem like those tiny isolated towns in BC have a problem with drugs, but you'd think that grow-ops hardly seem like a priority compared to the harder drugs.

brizzle

It's scandalous really. How on earth did they think that it'd survive a legal challenge, I do not know. The approach seems to be pretty scattergun, i.e. fine anyone who might look guilty rather than spend time and effort going after the really guilty and it generates income too. It's the same with drink driving - easy win big fines for those who've had 1 glass of wine, no court etc, don't have to bother going after those causing the real damage. Looks like you're really trying the tackle the problem when really it's just fine generation.

Mind you the sentences for those convicted of running grow-op's (esp. when you look at the money generated) is so pitiful, that you can't blame the police for being lacksadasical.

Thought the DTES, sorry BC civil liberties bloke, Eby would be on this, but he made some glib remarks and moved on to concentrate on protecting the rights of the criminal/drug addicts as usual.

Don't worry, BC is up there as well with the quantity of harder drugs being produced - Ecstasy/meth labs etc. BC is one of the world's largest producers of ecstasy. There's no method to track the import/sale of large quantities of the chemicals needed unlike most other countries.

Alan2005

He is. The BC civil liberties org is helping with the class action lawsuit.

printer

Would never happen in Kamloops as it seems the old bill there are too busy with other things.

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/6201...ewing-cell-sex