'The stink' of marijuana: Markham residents angered by cannabis grow-ops

Legal medical marijuana grow-op angers neighbours, politicians say nothing can be done if homeowner following rules

Yorkregion.com
March 19, 2018
By Jeremy Grimaldi

There is one house on Markham's Williamson Road that smells so bad of skunk neighbours say they can't enjoy their yards in the summer.

During other seasons, they say the smell actually seeps through their walls, smelling up their houses with the pungent odour.

Problem is, it's a not pest issue - it's a marijuana one.

"I want to sell my house, but with this smell, it's not worth anything," said one neighbour who did not want his name published.

He's not alone.

In the past three months, Markham Coun. Joe Li has received 10 calls about marijuana grow-ops in Markham.

Although unsure exactly which operations are legal, with licences from Health Canada, Li's unsure that really matters.

What is important from his perspective is that residents are struggling to deal with often odious scents coming from these homes, with little or no recourse.

"I don't think this policy has been thought out carefully," Li told yorkregion.com.

In the Williamson Road situation, the owner is breaking no rules, considering he has a medical marijuana licence to grow plants at his residence.

For neighbours, though, the problem is the person does not live in the home and is growing so many plants that the entire neighbourhood can smell like marijuana for days at a time.

Since the smell began about four years ago, residents have called police, the fire department and every level of politician, from Li, to MPP Helena Jaczek, to MP Jane Philpott.

The only one able to provide some resolution was Markham Deputy Mayor Jack Heath, who has been guiding the residents through a Municipal Property Assessment Corporation process in which he hopes to lower his property tax because of the stench.

"I'm not opposed to medical marijuana, I'm just not sure they should be granted ability to grow in residential neighbourhoods," Heath said. "There are other places for this, like industrial areas."

The smell is not the only worry.

"I am also concerned with the potential for fires with all that extra equipment, and home invasions," Heath said.

One neighbour said he has seen people driving up to the house in luxury cars and doesn't feel safe.

"I don't know who I am dealing with," he said. "No one lives there, so who knows if the home will go up in flames? We can't enjoy ourselves outside. It's embarrassing. People walk by our house and smell this and think it's us."

The issue of homes being used for the solitary purpose of growing medical marijuana has been a flashpoint in Markham before.

Parents and residents at a meeting with then-MP Paul Calandra grew angry, complaining of a schoolyard reeking of marijuana so much that their children's clothes had to be washed more often.

In that case, the homeowner didn't live in the home and was growing 146 plants legally with a Health Canada license.

Marijuana is set to become legal this summer, however, there are plans to set a limit on how many plants can be grown in each home. Experts have suggested that should be four plants at most.