Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2007
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2007 The Hartford Courant
Contact:  http://www.courant.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: Jesse Leavenworth, Courant Staff Writer
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws 
http://www.norml.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

INSIDE DOPE ON CANNABIS

Indoor Marijuana Farming Becoming More Widespread

 From California to Connecticut, marijuana plants are budding behind 
a veil of suburban normalcy.

Protected from neighbors, insects and weather, the indoor pot is 
flourishing among humidifiers, high-watt lamps and ventilation 
systems that filter and disperse the telling aroma.

In the last several months in the Los Angeles area, authorities 
raided several upscale homes and found marijuana "grows" valued at a 
total of about $50 million. Similar operations also were uncovered 
recently in Georgia and New Hampshire. In Connecticut in 2004, police 
seized 1,200 plants valued at $500,000 from swanky homes in 
Southington and Burlington.

Legalization advocates say there's a lot more indoor weed the cops 
don't know about, both in large grows and clusters of plants tucked 
into back rooms. And all signs, they say, show an upward trend in 
housing the nation's most popular illegal drug.

"It's a straight-up curve," said Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML.

Reasons for the move indoors, according to a variety of sources and 
published reports, include the lesser chance of getting caught or 
having plants stolen; tighter borders since Sept. 11, 2001, that are 
squeezing imports from Mexico and Canada; the ability to grow 
high-quality marijuana in a controlled environment; the reluctance of 
some smokers to buy pot from dealers; the wide array of seeds 
available, particularly from the Netherlands and Canada; and the ease 
and low cost of setting up an indoor greenhouse for personal use or sales.

Since 2001, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, 
annual seizures of indoor marijuana plants nationally increased from 
236,000 to 401,000 last year. In Connecticut, state police spokesman 
Lt. J. Paul Vance said police have seen more indoor pot operations, 
and the DEA's 2007 fact sheet for Connecticut says, "An increase in 
sophisticated indoor hydroponic marijuana growth sites have been 
revealed around the state in recent years."

Hydroponics involves growing plants without soil, either in 
nutrient-enriched water or inert material such as sand. It is the 
preferred method of many marijuana growers, and the materials are 
readily available at garden centers and online. Plug "hydroponics" or 
"indoor marijuana" into a computer search engine, and a dazzling 
array of products and how-to sites appears.

Canada-based BC Northern Lights, for example, sells hydroponically 
equipped "grow boxes" - self-contained appliances that include 
lights, ventilation systems and filters to control odor. In 2003, the 
company sold 108 units to New England residents, owner Tarren Wolfe 
wrote in an e-mail. Last year, it sold 202 units to people in this 
region. (Wolfe says her company does not sell its products as 
marijuana growers. But its name, Northern Lights, also is the name of 
a strain of marijuana.)

BC Northern Lights' "Bloom Box" was selling recently online for about 
$3,200, but an initial outlay of only $200 for essential lights and 
other equipment will produce a few high-quality plants, said Jorge 
Cervantes, who writes about marijuana cultivation for High Times 
magazine. Seeds are available through websites such as 
www.dutch-seeds.com. A packet of 15 Northern Lights No. 5 X Haze 
seeds sells for $182.98, while 10 Skunk Red Hair seeds go for $33.39, 
according to the website.

Indoor plants can be harvested every three months or so, and while 
average, seed-containing marijuana from Mexico sells for $150 to $200 
an ounce in this area, seedless varieties that a knowledgeable person 
can grow indoors will fetch up to $500 an ounce. An indoor grower 
with little more than a back bedroom dedicated to marijuana can make 
$50,000 to $70,000 a year.

But anyone tempted to start their own plants should realize that 
possessing marijuana and its seeds is illegal in Connecticut, a first 
offense punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $2,000 fine for 
more than 4 ounces. Smaller amounts can get you one year in prison 
and a $1,000 fine.

Large "grows" also can attract unwanted attention from serious 
criminals. Huge busts of indoor grows in the last year in California, 
New Hampshire and Florida were all linked to Vietnamese organized 
crime, according to the DEA.

"It's like a pot of gold sitting in those houses, and people are 
going to do whatever it takes to get their hands on it," a California 
state drug enforcement officer told the Los Angeles Times recently. 
"There's already been some takeover robberies of indoor grows, some 
that gets reported, some that does not."

Also, some people running large indoor marijuana operations have 
bypassed home electrical meters, attempting to hide the extra juice 
required for 1,000-watt metal halide lamps and other equipment. In 
some cases, those farms were exposed after electrical fires, said 
Agent Anthony Pettigrew, the DEA's New England spokesman.

That's how police say they uncovered suburban pot operations in 
Southington and Burlington in 2004. Police were summoned to the 
$440,000 Southington home after neighbors smelled smoke from an 
electrical fire. Inside, the scene was typical of the modern 
commercial suburban grow. The only furniture consisted of two 
mattresses on the floor. A forest of potted marijuana plants under 
grow lights, drip irrigation tubes and ventilation ducts occupied the 
rest of the space.

Smaller grows are much harder to find. They don't use a noticeably 
large amount of electricity and can be housed in spaces as small as a 
coat closet. Also, modern home growers - far better informed and 
equipped than most of their counterparts in the 1960s and '70s - can 
produce plants with high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol 
(THC), the primary intoxicant in marijuana and hashish, so they don't 
need a lot of room.

Also, although possessing marijuana seeds is illegal throughout the 
U.S., they're small and are shipped in nondescript packages, so most 
orders get through, according to legalization advocates.

But even small growers can get caught. It's not uncommon for police 
called to domestic fights or other crimes to find marijuana plants.

"Usually we get sent to a place on some other call," West Hartford 
Police Chief James Strillacci said.

He acknowledged that's probably only a small portion of what's 
growing behind shaded windows and locked doors.

"Whatever we know about," he said, "odds are there's a lot more we 
don't know about." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake