cannabisnews.com: A Challenging Crop A Challenging Crop Posted by FoM on February 04, 2001 at 12:35:53 PT By Tim Christie, The Register-Guard Source: Register-Guard Sharon Place had grown medical marijuana before, but she was still impressed by the bountiful crop she had growing last fall on her deck on the outskirts of Eugene. A dozen or so "big round monster bushes," some 14 feet tall, were nearing harvest, their thick branches heavy with potent buds prized by smokers, medicinal and recreational alike.The plants, which Place was growing for her ailing son and two other medical marijuana patients, were "like a whole family project thing," she said, like a counterculture 4-H project. Then came the nightmare.About 11 a.m. Oct. 6, while Place was away, four masked gunmen, one wearing a "Scream" mask, cut the phone lines and burst into the house, rousting Place's teen-age sons and demanding money and drugs.Her then-14-year-old son awakened to the sight of a gun barrel pointed at his head. The boy suffers from a severe case of gastroesophageal reflux disease and uses marijuana to stimulate his appetite. He told the thieves the family didn't have any money and that the marijuana was being grown for medicinal purposes, to no avail.The thieves kicked in a closet door to steal drying marijuana, cut the plants on the deck, and fled down the driveway to their car, leaving a trail of marijuana leaves in their wake."They could have killed my children for the marijuana growing there," Place said."I was naive to think it was OK to grow in your back yard. It's not a safe thing."It was one of at least four rip-offs of outdoor medical marijuana gardens in Lane County last fall, when plants were reaching maturity, according to police.None of the other thefts, though, were as violent or unsettling as the Place case.The thefts highlight just one of the perils and challenges of cultivating marijuana, a hardy plant that's easy to grow but difficult to grow well. The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act permits people to use marijuana for medical reasons, but its restrictions leave many patients grasping for a reliable supply.John Sajo, executive director of Voter Power, a Portland patient advocacy group, estimates that just 10 percent to 20 percent of medical marijuana patients have a steady supply of marijuana."There's a crying need for a dispensary or someplace where people can go and buy their medicine," he said. "That's the biggest problem with the law."But the law didn't establish a mechanism for creating a centralized supply of medicine. It leaves patients to their own devices, and Sajo said most sick people with debilitating medical conditions aren't able to take care of a marijuana garden."A lot of people are trying to grow their medicine and failing miserably," he said. "It takes the right conditions and knowing what to do when things go wrong."Someone diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live will scarcely have the time - much less the energy - to grow a crop before he or she dies.That's where groups such as the Eugene Cannabis Grow-Op hope to fill in the gaps. The idea is to connect patients with reliable caregivers (people legally designated by patients to grow their marijuana), and to educate people on effective ways to grow, said Todd Dalotto, one of the founders.The Grow-Op also plans to establish a "cushion" program to provide new patients with marijuana until their crops mature, he said.That's already happening in Portland, where Voter Power members grow a seven-plant garden. They try to grow big plants, and then give away the excess to card-holders in need, Sajo said. The law permits a card-holder to give up to an ounce of dried marijuana away to another card-holder."At the last event, we gave medicine to 30 to 40 people," he said. "We're trying to give people a hand getting started and instill in them the value that if someone helped you, once you get going you can help out other people."Once patients have a card from the state, the first thing they need to do is obtain seeds or clones, which are cuttings that can grow into a new plant.A key decision is whether to grow indoor or out. A patient is allowed to grow three mature, or budding plants, and four immature plants.An outdoor garden will yield bigger plants, but poses several problems. For one, such gardens will yield only one or two crops a year, so patients trying to grow enough marijuana to last for an entire year will likely be in violation of the legal limit of three dried ounces.Another problem, as Place found, is security. Particularly in an urban setting, it can be difficult to grow without arousing the ire of suspicious neighbors or catching the attention of unscrupulous stoners looking for an easy score."If you're growing (medical) marijuana, you're not going to want to tell a lot of people you're doing that," said Detective Sgt. Byron Trapp of the Lane County sheriff's office."It's a product sought after by a certain population and some are going to take extraordinary means to take your property."Growing indoors presents its own challenges. The plant limit provides little margin for error, and for some patients growing smaller plants indoors, seven plants simply don't yield enough cannabis to sustain their needs. "The numbers have everyone's hands tied," said Joe, a medical marijuana patient who requested his last name not be used. "A beginning grower will probably lose 15 plants before he gets one."Growing indoors costs more, because of the need to buy lights and other equipment. And patients must find room in their homes to grow.Joe has set up a sophisticated, drip-irrigated growing operation in his two-bedroom Eugene-area apartment. He's also an experienced greenhouse gardener and a hobbyist who has the time and skills to devote to his indoor garden.Joe was in a car accident that nearly tore off one of his legs and left him with chronic, debilitating back pain. After years of taking anti-inflammatories and other painkillers that were damaging his liver, he found smoking marijuana helped him deal with pain and was far easier on his body.Joe is an advocate of growing marijuana hydroponically, in which the plant isn't rooted in dirt but in a loose, soil-free material such as gravel or vermiculite. Roots grow directly in water mixed with nutrients, so adjusting the nutrient solution is far easier than trying to amend soil, Joe said.Growing hydroponically takes less space, and the plants are far lighter and easier to move than plants rooted in dirt.Growing indoors isn't cheap. Joe's setup costs about $500, which includes lights, timers, pumps, tubing, fans and other equipment.But it's compact. In half of one closet, he has his four immature plants growing under fluorescent lights. In half of another closet, he has three mature plants growing under sodium lights that emit a red glow that encourages blooming.Joe is still working to get his indoor garden on a reliable rotation so he always has a steady supply of marijuana. "It can be done on a small scale," Joe said. "This is the way to do it."But the fear of getting ripped off remains a real concern for many medical marijuana patients.Sharon Place is still wrestling with how to provide her son with a steady supply of marijuana in the wake of last fall's robbery."It's my concern he has the highest quality," she said, because then he doesn't have to smoke as much.Her experience growing medical marijuana goes back to the late 1980s, a decade before Oregon voters made it legal when they passed Measure 67 in 1998.In 1989, when Place was doing volunteer hospice work in Southern Oregon, she said she was arrested and prosecuted for growing marijuana.She was convicted, but because she was growing it for medical purposes, she said the judge gave her no jail time.Since the theft last October, other caregivers have helped out and given her marijuana, but Place would rather grow it herself.Yet her son remains spooked by the robbery."He's uncomfortable with it," she said. "We kept a quiet, secluded lifestyle. We took all the precautions we could take, and four masked men still came to rob us." Place said she doesn't know how the thieves found out about her plants. Perhaps they spotted them with binoculars from the road, she said, or perhaps a worker who came to the house noticed the plants and let the news slip to the wrong person.Place said the family may move to a new home so the thieves won't know where they live.Related:Law Leaves Doctors Uneasyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8571.shtmlOn The Web: Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, is the Institute of Medicine's report on the risks and benefits of medical marijuana. To order a copy or read the study on-line, go to: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6376.htmlMarijuana As Medicine? The Science Beyond the Controversy, by Alison Mack and Janet Joy, is a version of the Institute of Medicine study adapted for a general audience. It can be found at: http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9586.htmlDr. Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard psychiatry professor, advocate of medical marijuana and co-author of "Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine," has a useful Web site at: http://www.rxmarihuana.com/Contigo-Conmigo, at: http://www.proaxis.com/~gina/ is an Oregon-based Web site with information on the state's medical marijuana law and various other resources.National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has a Web site: http://www.norml.org/ that features news and background on marijuana issues.Sidebar: A hydroponic growing operation thrives in the closet of a Eugene apartment away from the curious eyes of strangers. Growing for patients, while legal, is still a dangerous venture since the $400-per-ounce street price makes the drug, in the words of one grower, "more valuable than gold."Sharon Place grew her son's medicinal marijuana on the deck of her rural home until four masked intruders stole the plants.Complete Title: A Challenging Crop: Growing Medical Marijuana a Risky UndertakingSource: Register-Guard, The (OR) Author: Tim Christie, The Register-GuardPublished: February 4, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Register-Guard Address: PO Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Contact: rgletters guardnet.com Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Related Article & Web Site:Oregon Medical Marijuana Acthttp://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/hclc/mm/Law Leaves Doctors Uneasyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8571.shtmlHome-Grown Medicine http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8564.shtmlReluctant Advocates Say it's the Best Optionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8563.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by alanhurt on August 06, 2001 at 11:49:14 PT: saffron It is generally best to grow Saffron from bulbs, because from seed it takesover 3 years to bloom. A recommend size for the bulb (actually a corm) wouldbe the size of a clove of garlic. Bulbs planted early in the fall will bloomthe first year. We start shipping Saffron bulbs in early September. Bulbsplanted later in the fall will produce leaves in the spring and flowers thefollowing fall. Plant at least 10 bulbs for each saffron recipe that you areplanning. The soil should be rich, sandy, and well-drained. Good drainage isa must because the bulbs will rot in wet soil. Plant the bulbs 2-3" deep and2-3" apart. They should have at least 4 hours of sun daily. Bulbs multiplyreadily and should be divided every 4-6 years.Alan Hirt saffron [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Mr. 2toes on February 05, 2001 at 09:53:30 PT I agree "She was convicted, but because she was growing it for medical purposes, she said the judge gave her no jail time."Just imagine the image some anti- has in his head by the news article of this women, "she's feeding her son that evil drug", I'm with Observer on this one.These robbers are very lazy if they steal marijuana in a town where its legal to grow it for medicinal purposes, thats what makes me think its a group of people trying to scare the public into re-criminalization of the plant. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by observer on February 05, 2001 at 08:16:02 PT The [Ex-]Police ? masked gunmen, one wearing a "Scream" mask, cut the phone lines and burst into the house, rousting Place's teen-age sons and demanding money and drugs. . . . Place said she doesn't know how the thieves found out about her plants. Perhaps they spotted them with binoculars from the road, she said, or perhaps a worker who came to the house noticed the plants and let the news slip to the wrong person.Sounds like too professional a job to me. Sounds like it could well be local cops, "saving The Children" from the "devastation" of "addiction" and the "drug culture", the only way that came to mind for them, knowing that they'd lose in court. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on February 05, 2001 at 07:00:25 PT: The lowest form of swine Stealing from sick children. Just as bad as Uncle doing the same...with precisely the same tactics and sneering bravado. Patients are now getting it coming and going, literally. This was bound to happen, as thugs move to fill in the niche created by LEOs recalcitrance in working against patient's groups by dragging their feet in setting up guidelines where the local laws require them. Evolution of the lowest sort. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Dan B on February 04, 2001 at 22:08:22 PT: Sad News, but Well Reported I am sad for this boy and his family, angry at the thugs who robbed them. This would never happen if cannabis were legal. It's illegal status is what makes it profitable, after all.But there are some good things about the way this was reported. First, the author was careful to point out that more potent marijuana is less dangerous marijuana--a fact that seems to be popping up increasingly in articles about medical marijuana. Second, it shows the utter insanity of the prohibition of cannabis. Here's a kid minding his own business at home, sick and in need of quality medicine, and four thugs burst into his home demanding his drugs (sounds like many a SWAT team, to me). As mentioned above, this would not happen if prohibition were repealed.Third, it implicitly demands a change in the rules: more plants, for starters, but also other means of dispensing the drug--grow-ops, for example. These are good options to a growing problem (pun intended). Of course, the best option would be legalizing cannabis altogether, thereby erasing the obstacles these legitimate patients have to their medicine. And increasing freedom for everyone.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by NiftySplifty on February 04, 2001 at 19:50:47 PT I just hope people realize... ...that this was a robbery. Not, somebody trying to "get their next fix". Had there been brand new car stereos and fresh brand-name clothes on hangers out front, the result could be similar. Violent theft of property.I hope the distinction gets made, not twisted by antis.Nifty... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by meagain on February 04, 2001 at 17:48:24 PT bust em I hope they catch these ruthless thugs and bust em.Putting a gun to a 14 year olds head is uncalled for. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on February 04, 2001 at 14:26:54 PT What's the challenge? >>The thefts highlight just one of the perils and challenges of cultivating marijuana, a hardy plant that's easy to grow but difficult to grow well. Difficult to grow well? Only due to today's social climate. Consider... there are other plants which cost more than cannabis, pound-for-pound - saffron comes to mind. But we never hear about the home invasions related to saffron. How odd. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: