House For Sale (Marihuana Plants Negotiable)

This is a week of birthdays in our household.  My two daughters were born on July 20th and 26th.  No, they are not twins, although that would be pretty cool to have twins born 6 days apart.  Well, maybe not so cool for their mother.  Kendall and Avery are turning 11 and 9. They are growing into independent and responsible young ladies.  The middle school and teenage years lay before us, but so far it has been a pretty enjoyable ride for Lynda and me.  Depending on how those coming years shape up, I may suddenly develop an affinity for woodworking out in the garage or become even more of a fixture at my office, a.k.a. the table by the wall at Starbucks.  I've noticed that lots of other dads and husbands take up seemingly outlandish pursuits during certain periods that correspond with times when "things are a changing" most for the women in their lives.  Training for marathons and skydiving are virtual cakewalks compared to living in a household bursting at the seams with female hormones.

I have learned that children are more likely to emulate their parents behaviour and habits rather than follow advice that is given to them.  I believe I have mentioned it in a previous story, but a certain piece of advice I give my kids falls right in line with this fact - "Don't believe anything that you hear and only half what you see."  It doesn't matter if that parental advice is heartfelt or is accompanied by threats of never being allowed to leave their rooms ever again.  It's not exactly a case of monkey see, monkey do, but those little orangutans of ours learn so much more by what we do, than what we say.  Kids are incredibly smart and cannot be bamboozled.

This leads me to my latest predicament.  Please feel free to weigh in on this one, as I can use the help.  Tell me what you would do.  The easy way, which is also sometimes the correct way, is to just let it go, do nothing, don't get involved.  I can probably sleep easy at night by trying to convince myself that it's really none of my business.  Just the fact that I'm still thinking about it after a week and now I'm writing about it, should tell me everything I need to know.  I do care and I probably should do something.  Let me tell you what the issue is.

A couple of years back, when I was a hotshot narc with the RCMP in St. John's, our team received information about marihuana being grown at a house in the downtown core.  I lead the investigation and we uncovered several interesting facts:

• the house was being rented;

• the renter had a permit from Health Canada to grow weed for medicinal purposes;

• the permit allowed for no more than 70 plants to be growing at any one time; and

• Health Canada did not have any plan to inspect and regulate the marihuana growing of the people it provided permission to do so. 

This was the first time I had encountered a legal grow operation.  Based on additional investigation and previous experience with grow ops, I believed that this person was growing far more marihuana than was permitted.  I documented everything that I had uncovered and a judge granted a warrant to search the house.  My instincts were correct.  The "patient", which was how Health Canada referred to the owner of the marihuana plants, had exactly twice the number of plants than was stipulated by Health Canada.  Some were robust and healthy and worthy of admiration from Cheeks and Chong.  Others were pathetic and reminded me of the crop of carrots that I never got, when,as a kid, I naively planted seeds in rows of soil-deprived, orange clay that lay in my backyard.  Even weeds (normal garden weeds, that is) never dared grow in that stuff.

The renter, ur ur .... I mean patient, was cooperative, interesting to speak with, and did indeed have the necessary paperwork to do what he was doing, just not in the volume that he had chosen to do it.  I did not arrest and charge the patient and I even went to the extreme in the name of police-client relationship building.  That being said, it was certainly my duty and obligation to seize the plants that put the patient over the limit stipulated by Health Canada.  I let the patient decide which plants would be kept and which ones would be seized by us and destroyed.  He certainly chose his half well.  None of the ones he kept were growing in orange clay.

I did some additional follow up with Health Canada and realized that the political and social will to allow the use of medical marihuana was light years ahead of any policy and procedures needed to ensure that it was being done effectively.  For example, growing marihuana indoors requires lots of heat and cycles of intense light.  The lights utilized are extremely hot and their wattage, as well as the number needed, usually require the grower to rewire circuits or to dangerously overload others.  The risk of a fire has to increase substantially whenever an indoor grow is present.  Health Canada has no provisions for assisting in the electrical requirements of the grow ops that it permits, be it financial or advisory.

I was most surprised to learn that the patient, who was a renter, was not required to advise the owner of the house that marihuana was to be grown in it.  The moisture, the high temperatures, and the length of time marihuana is grown in a house are all factors that combine to provide the optimal breeding ground for mold and mildew.  If you've ever watched an episode of Holmes On Homes then you are aware of how serious a problem it is and the expense and effort that is undertaken to rid homes of the mold. Whenever a marihuana grow operation is encountered, police use hazmat suits and breathing apparatus.  In my experience as a cop in Ontario, where grow ops flourish,  houses that were used as marihuana grows saw their resale value drop substantially.  In some jurisdictions, I believe there is also a legal requirement to note on the title documents that the property was once used as a  marihuana grow operation.  I am not aware of any such requirement in this province.  It seems it is buyer beware.

Finally, I come to my dilemma.  While flipping through the newspaper last weekend, I saw that the house, where the medicinal marihuana was being grown, is now for sale.  I do not know whether the patient still rents the house or whether the legal grow operation is still occupying those two rooms on the second floor.  I do know that if I were purchasing a home, one where I intended to raise a family, I would certainly want to know about anything that may compromise the health of those I love most.  The listing did not say "Lovely three bedroom in the heart of the city, close to parks, shopping, and the George Street entertainment district.  Appliances, as well as the equipment to grow marihuana included.  The 70 marihuana plants are negotiable.  Make an offer."  If the plants are still there, at least potential buyers will be making an informed decision.  Perhaps the patient wants to stay, so buying the property as an investment may also make some sense (some, but not a lot).

My fear is that there are no longer any obvious signs that this house was used to grow marihuana.  Potential buyers may not be aware, nor advised, that under the gyproc walls lurks a silent health menace, just waiting to harm the little lungs of their children.  Perhaps the listing agent is not aware either.  I do know that the owner of this particular house was aware that the tenant was growing legal marihuana.  Perhaps the owner felt there was no recourse and had to allow it because Health Canada issued the tenant a permit or perhaps the idea of a steady monthly rental cheque made it tolerable.  Whatever the reason, the owner now has an obligation..... no..... a duty to disclose the existence of the marihuana grow to potential buyers.

I am tempted to call the agent.  Perhaps I can pretend to be interested in acquiring the house just to see what information is given.  Then again, I could just do nothing.  I could just assume it is no longer any of my business.  Surely, my kids would understand why I chose to sit silently on the sidelines and let possible harm come to people.  Surely, I can keep from them the fact that I compromised my values in the name of not getting involved.

I can't do that.  I have to speak up.  Another expression I like is "You reap what you sow."  My kids have gotten to be the wonderful people they are because they are growing up in a home where caring about others is valued.  If I don't look further into the sale of that house, then I am failing my children because I will not be practising what I preach.  In essence, daddy will be a fraud.  If I become just another member of the silent majority, then I will be choosing to disengage from my family.  If I do that, then I may as well book my first skydiving lesson right now.