Pubdate: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2008 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: Sarah Prohaska, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana) INCREASED PENALTIES BUFFER ST. LUCIE IN BATTLE AGAINST GROWHOUSES It was almost a weekly, sometimes a daily, occurrence in 2006 in Port St. Lucie: Police would discover yet another house that had been transformed into an elaborate marijuana nursery, complete with secret rooms and expensive equipment. The trail was extensive, and the uncovering of one house almost always led to the discovery of another one tucked away in Port St. Lucie's sprawling residential neighborhoods. By the end of 2006, police had shut down more than 65 marijuana grow houses in the city. The discoveries have slowed during the past year and a half, but they haven't completely stopped. However, those now participating in this sort of illegal operation are taking a much bigger risk. A new law that took effect on Tuesday called the "Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act" lowered the threshold of marijuana plants needed to be charged with a second-degree felony, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. It's now a second-degree felony to grow 25 or more plants, instead of the previous threshold of 300 plants. Lawmakers hope that change will target for-profit growers in the state. The law also makes it a third-degree felony, punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, to own a house for the purpose of cultivating, packaging and distributing marijuana. It's also now a first-degree felony, punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison, to grow 25 or more plants in a house where children are present. Port St. Lucie Police Chief John Skinner said the new law will be a valuable tool for law enforcement officers. "It's useful for us, but it also sends a strong message to defendants," Skinner said. He's also happy about another element of the new law that allows a photograph or video recording of evidence seized from a grow house, such as the bulky lights and other equipment, to be substituted in court for the real thing. The law allows law enforcement to destroy grow house equipment at the end of an investigation and gives the agency immunity from any civil liability that could arise from the destruction of the equipment. Storage of seized grow-house equipment has been a major problem for both the Port St. Lucie police and the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, which have both had to find additional storage space for this sort of evidence. "I'm really pleased that instead of storing we can now take pictures," Skinner said. "Storage was really a challenge for us." This is not only a local problem: state officials say the marijuana grow-house business has boomed across Florida during recent years. Houses set up to specialize in hydroponic marijuana growing have been found in 40 of Florida's 67 counties, according to the Florida Attorney General's office. Across the state, law enforcement officers have seized more than $41.6 million worth of marijuana plants. Officials say these houses not only are associated with drug activity, but also violent crime. In Port St. Lucie, police discovered the first house that led the dismantling of a major growing operation after receiving a report of a man with a machete chasing another man outside what turned out to be a grow house. Investigators discovered another growing ring after a man killed his uncle in one during a fight over drug money and attempted to set the house on fire to destroy the evidence. "Grow houses are not only furthering this dangerous drug trade within our state, they are bringing violent crime into our neighborhoods," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a statement. "This new law will help protect our families and communities." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake