Going up in smoke

It wasn’t all that long ago that discovering a grow-op in our city would result in police action, drug seizures, and even confiscation of cash and property of those engaging in producing this illegal drug. Now, here we are in 2016, and things have radically changed and we should be very concerned! I am not sure where and when Health Canada made a sudden change and decided that dealing drugs was a moral and acceptable act in society, but I am hugely concerned about Canada’s current stance. I am not interested in debating whether Marijuana has a medical benefit and should be allowed for pharmaceutical purposes. I might concede that there is a place for this drug somewhere in the medical realm, and perhaps a place for industrial production behind high fences, in tightly controlled agricultural buildings. That might make some sense. But as far as I can tell, Health Canada has gone “stupid” when it comes to swinging the pendulum to the opposite extreme.

Health Canada is now promoting the production of this drug in our neighbourhoods and Health Canada is endorsing drug dealers to now “legally” produce weed, within reach of every man woman and child in our society! And Health Canada is doing this even though there is no scientific proof that this drug has any health benefit whatsoever. Health Canada has legitimized this destructive drug culture.

A few years back, Health Canada changed the laws to try to decriminalize the drug in Canada, and instead of fighting with the thousands of grow-ops in our cities, they began issuing licences for these same thugs – to become “licensed peddlers” of this drug and to allow its production for “medicinal use”. I am the Victim of these new licences – along with my neighbours as we have discovered our neighbour, in a small cul-de-sac of 600,000 dollar homes, has obtained not one, but three grow-op licences, all issued by Health Canada allowing for the production of not one or two plants, but rather allowing for up to 200 plants per licence. My neighbour is allowed to grow a total of 600 plants at any given time.

Now, the police have investigated and confirmed, their hands are tied, the City of West Kelowna has been consulted, and they too have feebly stated “There is nothing we can do.” Even our MP seems unable to have any impact on what Health Canada has allowed.

Now, one would think that if we are going to take what was an illegal and highly dangerous, once criminally prosecuted drug, and turn it into a Health Canada controlled substance, wouldn’t this new era require caution? One would be inclined to think that along with a licence should come some extremely careful and restrictive requirements – right? Wrong! Never in the past year has Health Canada ever set foot on the property to ensure that this production site meets health safety standards. Never has Health Canada shown up to ensure that these drugs are being handled with a keen attention to public safety, or that the drugs themselves are being used for the purposes of the licence permission. No one at health Canada is monitoring to ensure that our neighbour isn’t selling his drugs to the neighbourhood children, or that he isn’t lacing the drugs with something even more destructive and addictive. No one, not even BC Public Safety Authority, is showing up at this production site to ensure that the environment meets all safety codes required of any production company, nor are they examining the electrical distribution of this licensed venue. No one from the fire department has ever come over to make sure that these grow lights, requiring over 200 amps of power producing enormous amounts of heat requiring several AC units to cool them down, are not on the verge of burning down the entire neighbourhood. And although the RCMP initially almost knocked down the door to invade the grow-op and correct any illegal activity, they froze and retreated when they heard that Health Canada had licensed this site.

Help me out here. Am I, and my neighbours, the only ones who think it is absolutely ludicrous that slimy unaccountable, unmonitored, red neck gangsters are allowed to produce drugs in our neighbourhoods, within feet of our children and grandchildren, all with the blessing of Health Canada without any accountability or supervision?

In the meantime, my home is at risk for increased gang targets, my home is at greater risk of burning down, my home is subject to power surges due to the high voltage lights going on and off, and my home is being devalued by this ugly neglected yard and house that is inappropriately being used in a zoning that is not at all for production of pharmaceuticals.

We, the neighbourhood, are being told we have no recourse to deal with the harvesters coming in the middle of night, loudly disrupting our quiet street. We have to deal with the hum of these large, power consuming air handlers. We have to deal with our lights flickering on and off. And we have to deal with the stench of skunk-weed drying for days on end.

Has Health Canada gone Nuts? I think Canada law has reached a new low point!

Geoff Neufeld