Grow-ops may leave homes unfit for living

by Barry Artiste | August 16, 2007 at 10:47 pm

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Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

Canada's Red Hot Real Estate Market has real estate buyers scrambling to get into the profitable real estate market while the getting is good. Buying, cleaning and renovating older and newer homes as well as purchasing low cost Grow op or Meth Lab to flip for a profit has started a growing and disturbing trend amongst Real Estate Speculators.

Many in Canada say the Marijuana Industry is a victimless crime and doesn't hurt anyone, well as you will see in the accompanying photos, why am I dressing in my Darth Vader outfit? That's a clue, when you see me coming in my Yellow Class A unit, most likely the Public better be far away. Hence, the house is contaminated, and most likely the chemical and biological exposure can be fatal, not to mention the risk of fire and explosion.

These chemical and biological agents get into every part of the home and are extremely hard to get rid of, why anyone would willingly buy a cheap drug house for their family is beyond words.

In my activities attending many drug busts, I have witnessed every type of home used as a drug lab, from trailers to 5,000 square foot mansions. Believe it or not, there are more million dollar modern built homes used for manufacturing drugs 20 to 1 versus an old home.

Most cannot tell a drug house by appearances. For Now Public Readers the mansion pictured is a grow op, the old house, is just that an old house.

Homes built before 1980 have asbestos (a cancer causing mineral fiber) in their drywall mud and plaster, so drug lords don't like to cut holes in the walls of these homes because of the health risks, not to mention these homes have a limited 60 amp power output. The Drug Lords prefer new homes to ply their trade. So much for the myth of dilapidated crack houses like in movies.

Vancouver's Point Grey, White Rock and Kitsalano areas are ideal locations I have been to, as well as tony rich Mansions in Whistler are favourites for these Drug lord types. I have been to them all.

Homebuyers should know they may be owning a toxic wasteland when purchasing a former Grow op or meth lab. Unfortunately for many homebuyers they fall prey to unscrupulous Sellers. Sort of like the Leisure Suited Car Salesman who rolls back the odometer, fixes previously totalled cars with a bit of bondo and paint. Then tells you it is a bargain as it was previously owned by a little old lady who drove it only on Sundays.

If the Grow Op or Meth Lab was busted by police or the municipality there will be a record of it.

If the Grow op or Meth Lab was never discovered and busted then homebuyers will never know.

Now Public Readers should know, before buying a home, check with the municipality to see if the home was ever used as an illegal drug facility. Nowadays Banks and Insurance companies usually request proof of this from the home purchaser before lending money or insuring the home. Homebuyers should know, just because you bought the home, if the mortgage and home insurance company feel it was a drug lab, they will not offer you insurance coverage, and without insurance coverage bank loans are impossible to obtain.

If you suspect the home you own was a drug lab, there are easy ways to find out. Take a black light and check all wall surfaces and floors for evidence of massive cleaning, phosphorous used in cleansers will light up the area, freshly painted concrete basement or garage floors are a clue to hide telltale circular potting marks where they kept the plants. Looking along the wall and ceiling with a sideways glance, look for circular areas where ducting may have passed through the drywall and was patched with new drywall to hide the ducting holes. Wallpaper is another clue to hide duct marks.

Go to your attic and inspect for wood patches in your roof sheathing, a tell tale sign that venting and ducting was used to vent the odours. Though some Druggies use carbon canisters and modify the fireplace flue to vent the toxic fumes.

Hire an Environmental Hygienist to perform a series of mould, yeast and bacteria, and chemical sampling in your home. These contaminates are usually associated with grow ops and meth labs, though mould can be found in most homes. Certain mould spores associated with Grow ops are pathogenic, such as Stachybotrys and other mycotoxins which are harmful to your health.

Get a Electrician to check your electrical panel for tampering, as well as have an enhanced potable water testing of your drinking water.

Finally when in doubt, don't buy it. If you still want that house obtain the services of a Environmental Hygienist to perform a battery of tests on the home, if it was used to manufacture drugs a Hygienist will find it. This will give you and your family peace of mind as well as prove to the banks and insurance company that the home was not a drug lab and is fit for occupancy.

Beware of companies that both clean and test your home as this is a conflict of interest always use a third party when having testing and sampling performed.

Municipalites usually have a short list of companies who perform these Environmental activities.

As an Environmental Hygienist, Now Public Readers should know it is home buyer beware out there.

It is estimated by the RCMP that there are 18,000 drug labs currently in the lower mainland alone. This does not take into account thousands of previous drug labs that unsuspecting homeowners are now living in and may own a house that is unsaleable at any price.

Homes that have been renovated to clean up mould and indoor air problems caused by marijuana-growing operations may still be unfit for habitation, says a federal researcher who will begin a study of the problem this fall.

Fungicides, insecticides, solvents and other chemicals used in drug-making operations are absorbed by drywall, carpeting, wood, subfloors and concrete basement floors, said Virginia Salares, a senior researcher with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. They may also be found in backyards, where they are frequently dumped.

"People cannot take for granted it's safe," Salares said. Vapours from chemicals can permeate the entire house, not just the rooms where the plants were grown.

"The health risks vary depending on the concentrations of chemicals used, how long the growing-operation was in use, and the age, immune systems and health conditions of the people who move in.

"You wouldn't want to put an infant or a child under those conditions, being exposed to gases," she said.

The problem has a particular resonance in British Columbia, which has a burgeoning marijuana-growing industry.

It's hard to know the number of operations in Canada, but BC Hydro alone estimates there are potentially 18,000 homes on its grid that could be used for illegal purposes.

As the province with a reputation for a healthy marijuana industry, B.C. is considered to have more than one third of all the growing-operations in Canada. York Regional Police in Ontario have estimated there are about 50,000 operations in Canada.

Toronto real estate lawyer Bob Aaron, who has developed some expertise in dealing with them, says "there's tens of thousands."

Gillian Robinson, a spokeswoman for BC Hydro, said the Crown corporation closely monitors power consumption and will give municipalities the addresses of suspicious properties.

"We have about 18,000 homes using suspiciously high amounts of electricity, which is often an indication of a marijuana grow-op," she said.

The problem is also acute in Ontario, where in 2003 a police report called Green Tide estimated there were 15,000 operations in that province.

The United Nations World Drug Report for 2005 said 40 per cent of Canada's cannabis production is in British Columbia, with another 25 per cent in each of Quebec and Ontario.

Despite the risks, lower selling prices of former growing-operations -- 25 to 30 per cent less -- attract buyers looking for a deal, says Ottawa real estate agent Richard Rutkowski, who recently represented the seller and buyer of a former operation that had been on the market for two years.

Robinson said BC Hydro won't reconnect a house where marijuana has been grown until it has been inspected by an electrical inspecting authority.

Real estate agents have to ensure everyone involved in a sale is fully aware of the home's state, said Rutkowski. He estimates that for every 10 people interested in a property, eight will back out when they learn it's a former growing-operation.

Other agents refuse to list them and counsel their clients to avoid them.

"There are too many unknowns, especially with the chemicals," said Winnipeg realtor Cindi French. "I personally would never consider them a good deal at any price."

Salares completed a study earlier this year into mould problems and indoor air quality in rehabilitated growing-operations. It noted that while police succeed in identifying and seizing many of them, marijuana growers often avoid detection by buying and selling houses quickly.

"The homes are superficially repaired and sold to unsuspecting buyers who may be unable to locate the previous owners," the report states. "Where this occurs, new homebuyers can be unwittingly exposed to hidden contaminants from damage that was cosmetically covered over without proper remediation."

Growers typically pack hundreds of plants into small spaces with high moisture and no natural light or air circulation. As a result, the plants get fungal diseases and insect infestations that are treated with high doses of chemical pesticides.

Growers are unlikely to use organic solutions or dispose of chemicals in an approved fashion, Salares says.

If a crop spoils, they cook it to extract the drugs, and these chemical vapours are also absorbed by the house and later released into the air.

Chemicals are often spilled on floors and poured into soil surrounding the house, where future homeowners' children may someday play. Chemicals are also dumped down drains.

"The plumbing of course can be flushed and cleaned, but all those pesticides are going into the municipal sewage system or the septic system if it's a rural house," Salares said.

"All of these processes have such harmful effects on the house, the people and the environment."

Aaron advises buyers to insist on a clause in the purchase and sale agreement stating the home was never used for the growth or manufacture of illegal substances.

Salares is studying how chemicals are used in growing-operations, how they're stored, how various surfaces absorb and give off toxic vapours, and how a house can be rehabilitated.

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Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:19 on August 17th, 2007

Barry Artiste, this is an excellent post. I sense a new home-reno reality show on the horizon: Puff Puff Pass This House.

Barry Artiste

at 14:14 on August 17th, 2007

Just throwing a thought out there Jordan, perhaps if you have some free time say for a couple of hours early next week, how about suiting up with me and visit my world. I have just completed a preliminary investigation in a recent meth lab bust in a 1.3 million dollar home. My prelim is pretty much finished and you will see a real meth lab and it's effects (without most of the meth cook equipment) as all of us have for the first time since the bust, red phosphorus everywhere, moulds, toxic chemicals, the whole ball of wax. I have cleared all the bulk IDHL, RCMP have removed all the evidence. Though it's still quite risky, I have removed all Class A danger in order for us to downgrade to our Class B suits, it could be an experience as well as an adventure for you to report on Now Public. You will be safe in your PPE, otherwise I would not go in there either.

At least it is more of a adreniline rush than say.. accountancy or online reporting!

You know how to contact me, I think you would enjoy it, as would our readship and know more about my world and my biased voiced opinions on drugs and crime.

Barry Artiste

at 06:41 on August 17th, 2007

Thanks Jordan, what you say is true in part, I expressed home reno concerns with Janet Steffegen of the Vancouver Sun when they interviewed me last year on my role in over a hundred Drug Busts I have been involved in over the years and my technical role in entering these Lethal Biological and Chemical Facilities and why I do it. I do it to as it is my chosen profession. As for me, I do not think I would buy a drug house.

Municipalites used to release the household contents of these homes to criminals families, and I expressed concern to Municipalities that if these contaminated household contents find their way to flea markets, garage sales or thrift stores, the Municipality could be found liable if anyone were injured as a results of a blood pathegon needle prick or chemical burns from these contaminated household items. Chemical offgassing and or burns may not appear until they steam clean or wash the contaminated items, re-releasing chemicals within them. Most of the drug chemical contaminates can be dangerous when mixed with household cleansers.

Since children spend most of their time on the floor they are likely to be the first victims when finding a syringe needle embedded in the used carpet or sofa. Certainly something for Now Public Readers to think about.

pgaliba

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:07 on August 17th, 2007

Barry Artiste, i did not know this much about Grow Ops or Meth Labs. This sounds interesting and scary at the same time. I like this story. It's good stuff.

Barry Artiste

at 14:36 on August 17th, 2007

Thanks pgaliba, anything more you or Now Public readers wish to know,all you need to do is ask.

Barry

fyngyrz

at 13:40 on August 17th, 2007

So again, we see the evidence put forth showing that government forcing marijuana cultivation underground and into sealed spaces harms the public. Marijuana is a standard crop like any other crop, and if cultivated like a normal crop poses no threats whatsoever. If you had a "grow-op" for tomatos using the same techniques to increase yeild, you'd have the same risks. So obviously, the problem here isn't related to marijuana at all. The problem is that this cultivation was forced indoors, and without legitimate justification.

The root problem here is government telling you what you can put into your own body, what you can grow, what items you have grown that you can sell to consenting, informed adults. The collateral damage of the various wars on citizen's liberties is undeniable.

Stop supporting government roles that suppress your liberties as an adult citizen. That isn't what government is for. And since they do such an incredibly bad job of doing what it is they were created to do -- create and maintain transport infrastructure, keep people from robbing our homes and mugging our friends and family members, provide a basic, uniform education, keep our borders secure -- perhaps they should focus a lot more on those important tasks in any case.

Barry Artiste

at 14:33 on August 17th, 2007

Perhaps fyngyrz what you say is partially true, but like any controlled substance there will still be detractors, say the tobacco activists smoking is smoking and second hand anything cannot be good. If the Government legalised it, taxed it, the resulting health care costs would rocket skyward similar to the tobacco.

You should know as well once the effect of marijuana loses it's effects, people will look for stronger stuff, hence why the majority of marijuana I have Lab sampled anlyityically has been found to contain meth, crack and other chemicals. Why? Because Drug dealers and Drug Operators lace it with every chemical they can get their hands on in order to (1) make it addicitive to the unsuspecting user (Usually kids, teens) and (2) make it more hallucinogenic to improve the high and the addiction as well.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but marijuana unlike tomoatoes are not native to Upper North America and for the most part not survive quality wise to give any appreciable high unless chemicals additives are added, hence not of any marketable value to the consumer, so indoor grow op provide better control over the elements and more danger. Granted the Government should not tell us what to put into our bodies, but when the stuff we put in our bodies can either kill or hurt our health and in Canada we have essentially Free Health Care, the government is within it's rights as well as taxpayers who pay for the Free Social Health Care. Besides do we need another hazardous industry detrimental to our health? As someone in the human health risk assessment profession I have to weigh the pros and cons.

I do thank you for fyngyrz and do appreciate your comments though, you have made some valid points.