cannabisnews.com: Secret Gardens





Secret Gardens
Posted by CN Staff on June 25, 2007 at 05:26:59 PT
By Scott J. Croteau, Telegram & Gazette
Source: Telegram & Gazette 
Massachusetts -- From the outside, it looked like just another modest home nestled in a peaceful community. Nothing about its white shutters, vinyl siding and neatly trimmed shrubs in the front hinted at the secret within the Shrewsbury house. Inside, walls covered with family pictures and decorations brightened the room where a television was set up in front of a couch. But in the attic was something a little different — a plant not typically found growing in the yard next to carrots and tomatoes.
Hundreds of marijuana plants basking under artificial light and soaking up water from soil-rich nutrients were this home’s hidden secret. Central Massachusetts hasn’t seen an onslaught of homegrown pot operations, but authorities predict that with tighter border security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and more aggressive efforts to find and eradicate outdoor crops, indoor marijuana nurseries on American soil will increase. “Over the last six months we have seen a handful of indoor grows at different levels, some for personal use and some for sale,” said Worcester Police Sgt. Eric A. Boss, a member of the department’s vice squad. A stove left on in a Fay Street apartment recently led Worcester police to the discovery of 14 marijuana plants and several jars of fungi containing what police said would turn into hallucinogenic mushrooms. All the equipment to grow marijuana was inside the apartment, police said, including a how-to book on growing the weed. Two years ago, Shrewsbury investigators found about 120 marijuana plants growing inside the attic of a two-story house at 50 Longfellow Road, which led to the arrest of a mother, her two children and two other men. They were also accused of growing 26 marijuana plants in the woods off Gulf Street in Shrewsbury, crimes for which several of the people arrested received no more than two years’ jail time and others had their cases continued without a finding.The crop in the November 2005 bust was valued at roughly $125,000. Leicester Police Chief James J. Hurley, a Shrewsbury lieutenant during the 2005 discovery and now the unit supervisor of the Regional Drug & Counter Crime Task Force for the Middle District of Eastern Worcester County, said more enforcement against outdoor marijuana growers has forced them to move their operations indoors. Helicopter flyovers and state, federal and local authorities’ marijuana-eradication programs at harvest time are well-publicized ways investigators find and destroy outdoor crops. The pot growers know it too, authorities said. “There have been several significant grabs of outdoor marijuana grows and that has driven people indoors,” he said. Pot growers also see added financial advantages to the indoor grow, said Chief Hurley, who has had a couple of articles published on the topic of marijuana grows. “Outdoors you can only get one good grow in a year,” he said. “The cycle indoors is three to four grows in a year. You’d be surprised how many plants a good indoor marijuana growing can get going.” While indoor plants are usually smaller — 3 feet to 4 feet tall compared to the 8-foot to 10-foot outdoor plants — dealers find the indoor grows more profitable because more plants can be harvested over a year, the chief said. A good grower can get a pound of marijuana from one plant and net a profit of $800 to $1,500 per pound, he said. Authorities here say many of the indoor marijuana grows are for personal use. Many people caught growing their own cannabis are usually novices, Sgt. Boss said. While large grow houses are not common in Central Massachusetts, authorities know of marijuana distributors in other states buying homes strictly as grow houses. “In fact, Canada-based Asian groups are increasingly operating indoor grow sites in homes in the Pacific Northwest and California, purchased or rented and then modified for the purpose of producing two to four crops before abandoning the premises,” said a National Drug Intelligence Center report. It also said that more high-potency marijuana is being grown indoors domestically. “Intelligence reports say there will be an increase of indoor grows,” said Gardner Police Lt. Gerald J. Poirier, commander of the North Worcester County Drug Task Force. Since border security is tighter, the chance of pot smugglers being caught coming into the country has increased, he said. Instead, the organized groups are producing their product in the United States, he said. The indoor grows are also harder to detect, but investigators say they have methods of finding them but won’t discuss them. Steven S. Epstein, a lawyer and founder and current treasurer of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, the state affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Laws, said under legislation his organization wants passed, 24 plants in a home would be deemed a personal-use amount. His organization has legislation filed with the state seeking to have marijuana decriminalized. If marijuana were legalized and taxed, the revenue stream would be at least $26 million in Massachusetts, he said. Mr. Epstein believes it shouldn’t be a crime if someone had three separate rooms, all with about eight plants in each room and all the plants in different stages of growth. That would be deemed personal use, he said. While marijuana possession generally isn’t treated as harshly as possession of some other drugs — bringing only a citation in some states for certain minimum amounts — that doesn’t mean police want to see it legalized. “There is a big difference between someone driving smoking pot and someone driving smoking a cigarette,” Chief Hurley said. Note: Indoor pot takes root as borders tighten.Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)Author: Scott J. Croteau, Telegram & GazettePublished: Monday, June 25, 2007 Copyright: 2007 Worcester Telegram & GazetteContact: letters telegram.comWebsite: http://www.telegram.com/MassCannhttp://www.masscann.org/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by thestales on June 26, 2007 at 09:28:09 PT
Speed Tv
Apaprently this guy never watches the BBC's Speed TV where the guy somked a joint and drove flawlessly.the big difference is one will give you cancer while you drive while the other will cure it.Yes, he has made his point. there is a big difference.
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on June 25, 2007 at 22:14:17 PT
Informing the Public: LTE & OPED Energizer Bunnies
CN ON: PUB LTE: Writer Agrees With Decriminalization of Marijuana, The Daily Observer, (23 Jun 2007) 
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n750/a07.html?176CN BC: PUB LTE: Questioning Policy, Salmon Arm Observer, (20 Jun 2007) 
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n749/a01.html?176CN BC: PUB LTE: Blame Prohibition For Problems, Salmon Arm Observer, (20 Jun 2007)
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n749/a02.html?176
 CN BC: PUB LTE: Laws Are The Problem, Salmon Arm Observer, (20 Jun 2007) 
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n749/a03.html?176The Politics of Fear
By Sarah Veale,
Viewmag Online, 
Vol. 13 No. 25 • June 21 - 27, 2007 
http://www.viewmag.com/viewstory.php?storyid=5300THE PIQUE OF PEAK OIL
By Michael Truscello,
Viewmag Online, 
Vol. 13 No. 25 • June 21 - 27, 2007 
http://www.viewmag.com/viewstory.php?storyid=5301
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on June 25, 2007 at 11:32:15 PT
End the "Problem".
Legalize it.It's the only sensible way.
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Comment #5 posted by museman on June 25, 2007 at 11:20:17 PT
put that poor 'dog' to sleep
"...but authorities predict that with tighter border security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and more aggressive efforts to find and eradicate outdoor crops, indoor marijuana nurseries on American soil will increase."More tail wagging of the same old tired dog. Lies upon lies upon lies. I do believe that if you start peeling away the layers of BS so thickly laid by the gov and the status quo, one eventually finds that there is nothing left but vacuum."Look at whom I am pointing my finger, not at what I am doing." "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."I would curse them, but they have lain their own condemnation firmly down. They won't be going on to the next level. In fact their schema of falsehoods is crumbling as we speak.The fact that they are so afraid of cannabis is going to reveal (and has revealed) a host of lies they have long concealed, because enough people know the truth now, and it won't be stopped. Sure they can build more prisons, arm more police, legislate away the constitution, and in general make life even more miserable for the less endowed, but the truth will never die, nor can it be stopped once it's out.The lame attempt to make us all 'terrorists' because we choose the truth is going to backfire on their asses, bigtime.Hey Big Brother, FYI: get it right, I am not a 'terrorist' I am a "Terryist.""What you gonna do about me?" -Quickslver messenger Service
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Comment #4 posted by Max Flowers on June 25, 2007 at 10:03:48 PT
More know-nothing cop-talk
A good grower can get a pound of marijuana from one plant and net a profit of $800 to $1,500 per pound, he said.The statement itself is true, technically (and the profit is more like $3,000), but what is false is the impression that this is common. VERY rarely do indoor growers ever get a pound from a single plant, and very rarely do they even try to. To get a pound from a single plant indoors, the plant would have to be in vegetative growth for a very long time, (several months), and a large space (at least 4x4 or 5x5 feet) would have to be devoted to that single plant. The logistics don't make sense---there's no advantage to grow a single plant for many months (in veg) when one can just grow multiple plants in the same space for a far shorter veg period.I suppose they pull out these lame statements in order to "shock" people with the image of a single plant growing obscenely large and making its owner filthy rich (yeah right). I just get so sick of seeing these ignorant propaganda statements by cops printed in news articles.
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Comment #3 posted by Had Enough on June 25, 2007 at 09:08:51 PT
Here we go again
“While marijuana possession generally isn’t treated as harshly as possession of some other drugs — bringing only a citation in some states for certain minimum amounts — that doesn’t mean police want to see it legalized.”Cops are supposed to enforce the law, not influence them.When I was young, I was told if you don’t like the rules, change them.Well we are still trying, and look at all the stuff encountered along the way.This issue should have been solved years ago, better yet it shouldn’t have happened at all.
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Comment #2 posted by Truth on June 25, 2007 at 08:23:41 PT
yeah right
“There is a big difference between someone driving smoking pot and someone driving smoking a cigarette,” Chief Hurley said."yeah, legalityThe Truth is:There is a big difference between someone driving smoking a joint and someone drinking alcohol. life and death
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Comment #1 posted by freewillks on June 25, 2007 at 07:35:03 PT
"someone driving smoking pot" 
So, this is thier justifacation for arresting 700,000 citizens a year for somthing that is less harmfull than a six pack of beer. 
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