Each week we read about some 'grow-op' being raided in Vancouver or Surrey, or some other big city neighbourhood. Less often we read in our local papers about the same bust happening in our own neighbourhoods. Rest assured that fewer busts are the result of smaller overall population, not fewer grow-ops per capita. In our small communities, we are no less likely to come to grips with the problems arising out of the cultivation of illegal crops.
How big a problem are marijuana growing operations? According to a study published earlier this year by the University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV), between 1997 and 2000, "the number of individual incidents of marihuana grow operations increased by over 220 per cent." Though the numbers levelled off after 2003, production did not: "the amount of marijuana produced each year in British Columbia is estimated to have increased from 19,729 kilos in 1997 to a seven year high of 79,817 in 2003."
Another valuable comparison comes from Statistics Canada who found that the rate of grow operations averages 27 per 100,000 population in Canada; and in BC, the number is 79!Some will argue that this 'cash crop' is a boon to local economies because it generates millions of dollars of revenue for growers who, in turn, spend some of it locally. Let us accept that for the moment. But what are the associated costs to our society? To our communities?
Grow-ops mostly come in two forms. There is the small-scale, sometimes considered a "mom-and-pop" operation that is mostly engaged in cultivation for personal use, and perhaps some small profit on the street. The small operation is not generally linked to organized crime groups.
"Commercial operations" exist at the other extreme and are typically highly organized, sophisticated and connected to organized crime. These operations are there purely for profit - and they will act to guard their source of revenue.Whether small or commercial, many of these grow-ops protect their crops. The UCFV study lists "other hazards" found in grow-ops: weapons, booby traps, explosives, chemical products, other drugs, and fire. Among the dangers, fire was one of the most common as grow-ops have much higher incidence rates.
What about other costs to our communities? Leaving aside the obvious ones like smoking and encouraging people to use marijuana, we can identify many other negative results from these operations, including the "mom-and-pop" ones, by the way.
We will want to include the danger from electrical by-passes, damages to rented homes, and firearms and other weapons used to defend against "grow-op rip-offs." As if these were not enough, we must add in the pollution from wastes generated by the operations. These include chemicals (fertilizers, ph-adjusters, bleach, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides) going down the drain, and all manners of plastics and equipment tossed into landfills (if we are lucky) or left out "in the bush."In other words, while there may be some short-term fiscal benefit to grow-op money circulating in the economy, the social and community costs of growing marijuana far outweigh the miniscule benefits that might be claimed. As difficult as it is to measure many of these things, at least we can encourage some dialogue in our communities over these issues.
Dr. Paul Martiquet is the Medical Health Officer for the Sea to Sky corridor.
