cannabisnews.com: Pot Farming Growing Indoors Pot Farming Growing Indoors Posted by FoM on February 20, 2000 at 08:10:40 PT By David Green Source: Miami Herald Modern Methods: Marijuana growers are turning suburban homes into profitable indoor pot farms. When a Miami-Dade County doctor decided to plant a tree in his back yard not long ago, he dug a hole.He dug deeper. And then a huge jolt of electricity knocked him onto his back.The cause: His neighbors had needed extra power to operate their massive indoor marijuana farm, so they ran a pirate power line under his back yard. Unlike the doctor, the police were not shocked. They've seen it all when it comes to the ingenuity of home-based pot growers: engineered superplants, computerized ``grow labs'' and organized cultivation rings.Technological advances have made pot-growing a multibillion-dollar industry. And that has spurred the police to employ some ingenuity of their own.A host of federal and local agencies recently created a task force to root out pot growers. On Feb. 11, its agents raided eight Broward and Miami-Dade ``grow houses,'' netting five arrests and half a million dollars worth of dope.But so far, operations like this have failed to stem the state's thriving marijuana production. Pot is now Florida's second most popular crop -- second only to citrus.``Money is the bottom line,'' says Miami-Dade Police Detective Rudy Espinosa. ``They make more money growing marijuana inside a residence than they do smuggling it.''Grass is Greener:In the 1970s, most marijuana was imported from Mexico or Colombia.Pot plants in those days were tall -- up to 15 feet -- and had a relatively low level of THC, the chemical that produces the high.Since then, growers have used traditional horticulture cloning and hybridizing techniques to create a master race of pot plants: dwarf versions as small as a tomato plant that produce buds with 35 times the THC level.Rapid advances in hydroponics -- the science of raising plants in nutrient-enriched water instead of soil -- have also helped fuel the explosion.For growers, these developments mean a larger crop of stronger dope in tighter quarters in a shorter time. This has allowed the pot-growing businesses to move behind closed doors -- perhaps even onto your block.``Neighbors always say, `Gee, we never had a clue,' '' says Brent Eaton, special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. ``It's very difficult to detect.''Growing Trend:The newfangled methods may be difficult to detect, but they're relatively easy to execute.Growers rent a house, room or apartment, depending on the size of their crop. They pay in cash to avoid leaving a paper trail.They seal off doors and windows. They install bright lights, timers, humidifiers and air conditioners -- mimicking cycles of day and night, keeping plants at an optimum temperature of 68 degrees.With elaborate labs, growers are forced to go to great lengths to conceal their operations.In the case of the Miami doctor's neighbors, they needed a massive air-conditioning apparatus to regulate their 1,400 plants. To cool the system, they ran an underground pipe to the swimming pool behind their rented two-story $350,000 house.They covered the pool's surface with inflatable toys to avoid raising eyebrows.Connoisseurs:Such innovations have borne fruit.The majority of marijuana smoked in the United States is now grown in North America, the DEA says. About a third of that is grown indoors, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.The supply boom has created a degree of pot connoisseurship normally associated with wines and cigars.Growers have developed strains of marijuana that taste nutty. Or fruity.There is ``blue collar'' pot with its relaxing high for menial laborers. There is ``white collar'' dope that gives its yuppie smokers a peppy buzz.Bottom Line:With the value of high-quality pot now hovering between $2,000 and $6,000 a pound, the unprecedented profit potential has attracted throngs of growers.A decade ago, agents raided eight indoor labs in Florida. Last year, that number skyrocketed to 211 -- 54 in Miami-Dade County, five in Broward.For law enforcement, this has meant changing their tactics.During the 1980s, police became adept at finding outdoor marijuana fields. Other agents focused on interdiction.Ironically, these very efforts helped drive pot-growers indoors. And the indoor operations are much harder to pinpoint.Stiff Penalties:Not wanting to tip their hand to growers, agents are tight-lipped about their new strategies.They do say, however, that they pay close attention to power usage. Grow rooms require massive amounts of electricity, which companies like Florida Power & Light tend to notice and point out to the police.Agents also have been forced to rely more on tips from informants. It was such a tip that led to last week's Operation Green Thumb II.On Feb. 11, a small army of local and federal officers raided hydroponic labs in Hollywood, Pembroke Park, Miami Lakes, Miami Shores and North Miami Beach. They seized 600 plants -- each capable of producing up to a quarter pound of pot.E-mail: dgreen herald.com Published Sunday, February 20, 2000Copyright 2000 Miami Herald CannabisNews Articles on Pot Growing:http://www.alltheweb.com/cgi-bin/asearch?type=all&query=cannabisnews++pot+growing END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by joe2313 on March 18, 2001 at 16:53:16 PT: hehehhehe hummmmmmm good stuff [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on February 21, 2000 at 10:35:27 PT Cut it out, you're making me hungry! I haven't indulged in years, so I'm not savvy regarding all the latest terminology. But I can say this: the DrugWarriors have caused an unforseen (by them, at least), unintended consequence with their rank insanity. They have caused the evolutionary leap we are witnessing with regards to cannabis quality.Just like so many of the things they do: bass ackwards. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on February 20, 2000 at 22:26:30 PT Just a thought! How bout some fruit juicy hawaiian punch! Fruit & nutty butter type aromas are nice. So is bubblegum. Smells like bazooka! There is bouquet in marijuana the same as fine wine. Someday the world will see how wrong this has been. I believe it should be shown in flower shows for it's external beauty! I can't wait til we can go see cannabis plants displayed at a county fair! I can dream! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by CongressmanSuet on February 20, 2000 at 21:53:37 PT Oh, and to Rainbow... Yes, there are strong, potent varieties out there that do have fruity, nutty smells and tastes. I would now like to apologise for all of the grammatical errors in my previous post..... [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on February 20, 2000 at 19:54:04 PT Bang on target again, CS In fact, I believe that the Jamaican study you mentioned was the one where several gross falsifications of data were committed because the 'scientists' were hoping for further grant money from NIH. They figured (correctly) that if the findings were negative, they could continue to belly up to the government grant trough and gorge themselves (as so many of their successful brethren had learned to do). When the study was finally peer-reviewed in Scientific American, the 'scientists' involved were subjected to censure by their colleagues, and forced to submit a retraction. And yet, like most of the studies that debunk treasured pot myths of DrugWarriors, this 'study' is still dusted off and trotted out when PFDFA types have to scrape the barrel to find something scientific sounding to justify their continued obstinance. There are none so blind as those who will not see. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by CongressmanSuet on February 20, 2000 at 18:59:18 PT Kap, I honestly dont ever remember seeing ........ a comparison as such in print. Great point. Im also in total agreement with your opinion of potency increases in the recent past. I draw this conclusion from personal experience, but I digress... most people are aware that drinking too muuch is harmful, hell, incredible amounts of people have an "Uuncle Joe" who died from this toxin. But, the mental deteroration is not the always considered the worst part of this problem. We always focus on how bad the liver is, the pancreatic failure, it is kept mostly on a physical level, with less emphasis placed on the mentally destructive nature of alcohol. Follow me... BUT, what we hear about marijuana is mostly about brain damage. Thats the big fear, yes they love to throw in "You will become a chemical eunuch if you smoke this stuff" , or " Smoking marijuana will effect your immune system and you will get TB" [you get my point],but, They love to hammer away at brain damage. These allegations are hardest to physically prove. They have taken a difficult to prove "theory" and declared it fact. Well, truth be told, the worst they can come up with regarding brain damage and marijuana are ridiculously convoluted studies done in Jamaica, no less, many years ago that falsely describe "Amotivational Syndrome" as a side effect of heavy cannabis use. The study stated that chronic marijuana users became apathetic and lacked motivation, generally, they were a passive bunch. Their health was average. Compare this to incredibly well known alcohol caused syndromes like "Karsakoffs' Syndrome" where the habitual alcohol abuser becomes the equivalent of a "wet brain", a person who is unable to perform daily tasks[eat, maybe tie shoelaces] due to the massive brain damage which accompanies years and years of abuse. Not only is marijuana a physically much safer drug than alcohol, but it has there has never been a case of its usage causing the massive brain damage that would even distantly approach that of the damage incurred by habitual alcohol consumption can precipitate. Yet, alcohol is a comfortable thing, an intoxicant that can bridge generation and cultural gaps, that even some of the fringe religion groups will tolerate to an extant, its something we all grow up with. Its tolerated, even encouraged, in moderation. STRANGE times we live in, huh? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by rainbow on February 20, 2000 at 12:58:52 PT Ilegal article soon I found two items of interest in this article.One that I too have never heard. Growing MJ with different flavors nutty and fruity - a wine anology? I wonder if the growers can just get the smell to be nutty and ffruity.And 2. This article will be quite illegal soon. The government is going to be able to confiscate the newspaper for telling us how to grow MJ. It will be interesting to see if the law treats all new sources equally. My bet is NOT. (refer to hatch-feinstein anti-bill of rights bill)CheersRainbow [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on February 20, 2000 at 10:35:50 PT Unfair comparisons I am not a believer in the 'increased potency' (as compared to what? - no reliable baseline has ever been established) theory of modern cannabis growing. But there is something which I have never heard anyone, either on our side or theirs, ever bring up. That is:Alcoholic beverages vary in strengths, from 3.2% alcoholic content beer to 151 proof rum. Hard liquor plays a highly visible role in murder, domestic violence, traffic accidents, et al. Just ask any cop what the first thing he or she looks for in a traffic stop. Yet I never hear anyone suggesting that the higher alcohol content products should be banned.Hardly a novel or original observation, but think about this and you realize the paucity of the antis arguments. Products guaranteed to produce cirrhosis of the liver are sold over the counter in nearly every population center. Drink the entire contents in one gulp and you court fatal alcohol poisoning - as some less-than-intelligent adolescents and college frat brothers have learned. And yet there are no screeching moralists demanding their removal from the liquor store shelves. Perhaps because those self-same moralists who deride cannabis usage by supporting the brewery and distillery funded PFDFA enjoy the occasional martini,hmmm? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 20, 2000 at 10:02:53 PT Expanded Version from The Miami Herald Those arrested in the raid face stiff penalties.Federal law equates pot possession with that of harder drugs. State statutes allow police to charge those caught with any number of plants with a felony.Anti-drug advocates say this is warranted: As pot becomes stronger, they say, so should the punishment for growing it.But others argue that no amount of police work will snuff out the new breed of marijuana growers.``If they bust a thousand people a year growing pot, or 10 thousand, it's still just a fraction,'' says 33-year-old Kyle Kushman, writer and editor for High Times magazine, chronicler of marijuana culture. ``It's never going to go away.High Times Magazinehttp://www.hightimes.com/``It's been part of every culture. And it always will be.''Published: February 20, 2000Copyright 2000 Miami Herald http://www.herald.com/content/today/news/broward/digdocs/003644.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Puritan on February 20, 2000 at 08:26:37 PT Pot usage Have we heard this before????I would dearly love to hear why pot should be illegal in the first place...Amused, are you out there hiding someplace? Why not take that God given intelligence and wonderful debating ability to explain why cannabis should remain illegal and why this government should continue to arrest and incarcerate users. This is the time and this is the place. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: