Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2009
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2009 The Tribune Co.
Contact: http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/submissionform.htm
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446
Author: Ray Reyes, The Tampa Tribune

POT HOUSES GROWING LIKE WEEKS IN TAMPA BAY AREA

He loved marijuana and found a way to stay high without ever running
dry by turning a rented house in Pinellas County into an indoor pot
farm.

He didn't have a job, but he got paid. Every 90 days he made more than
most people earned in a year when he harvested the buds and sold the
marijuana for up to $5,000 a pound.

Craig had plenty of money; he often averaged $30,000 a month in pot
proceeds.

He also had a chronic paranoia of getting caught and the loneliness
that comes with keeping a dark secret. He lived like a hermit.

"I had no friends. No girlfriend. I couldn't have family over. I
couldn't order pizza," Craig said. The Tampa Tribune is not printing
his full name because he is an informant for the Pinellas County
Sheriff's Office.

Craig was one of the many otherwise law-abiding citizens who read
books and scour the Internet learning how to make a living, pay off
debts or rake in quick cash by running a grow house, detectives said.

Those motivations have contributed to a black market that has boomed
in Florida the past few years, particularly in the Tampa Bay area.
Hillsborough County had the second-highest number of plants seized at
grow house busts in the state last year.

In Hillsborough and Pinellas counties last year, 102 indoor grow
operations were busted and nearly 8,000 plants were seized, according
to a report by the state's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement.
Pasco had 27 busts in which about 2,000 plants were seized.

Across the state, investigators identified more than 1,000 grow houses
in 2008. In 2003, they found 228.

"The black market isn't going away," said Lt. Robert Alfonso of the
Pinellas sheriff's narcotics division. "There's a lot of money to be
made."

More Potent Pot

Pot still is grown outside, but such sites are more easily detected,
authorities say. Grow houses are harder to spot and have been found
everywhere, from low-income neighborhoods to upscale addresses,
detectives said.

High-tech cultivation methods, including hydroponics and artificial
lighting, also yield more potent strains: Northern Lights, Purple
Haze, White Widow, Diesel "" with no shortage of buyers.

Some suppliers come from organized crime operations, but an increasing
number of grow house operators are people who have been hit by hard
times, lost their jobs or decided to try their hand at indoor pot
farming on a whim, detectives said.

"There's a mixture of everybody right now," said Maj. Albert Frost of
the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. "There's no pattern, no
group, no organization."

Federal drug enforcement agents have identified Miami-based drug
organizations moving indoor operations north to more rural counties
such as Polk. The population density in places such as Pinellas,
though, makes it harder for drug rings to go unnoticed, detectives
say.

That's one reason Craig and others like him fit the Bay area's typical
profile of a grow house owner and operator.

"I thought I would come down here, make a ton of money and leave,"
said Craig, who is from the Northeast.

The Lifestyle

Craig said he smoked his first joint when he was 17. He dug himself
deep into the pot culture. He followed the Grateful Dead across the
country and scored free dope where the band played.

He found out about a book on how to grow pot as he communed with
fellow Deadheads.

Most first-time growers fail because they can't balance the right
mixture of nutrients, herbicide and water, detectives say. Novice
growers also don't know how to control insects.

Craig had some of the same problems at first. But through months of
trial and error, Craig refined his techniques growing pot in a
warehouse. He then moved operations to a rented home. Soon, he was
getting about eight pounds per harvest "" considered an average yield
"" and cashing in up to $90,000 every three months selling to a
handful of customers.

"I never thought I was going to be a horticulturalist," he said. "But
money was easy."

Craig, who grew pot for about five years, said he considered a
luxurious lifestyle. "I probably could've had a nice watch, a nice
car, a boat."

He bought none of those things. Nor did he go on trips or move into a
richer circle of friends.

Paranoia made him lock himself away inside his grow house. He boarded
the windows from the inside and spent hours tending the plants. He
grew pale and overweight. He never considered having a girlfriend
because he was afraid she would snitch. He lied to his parents.

"I kept them away with lies and excuses," Craig said. "The lifestyle
sucks."

It's Over

Then one day last year, he was awakened by a knock on the front door.
He answered it and found detectives standing outside. Two words popped
into his head: "It's over."

Craig was charged with growing and possessing marijuana, was convicted
and sentenced to probation. Later, he discovered his paranoia was
justified: He had showed his farm to a confidential informant.

Craig recounted his story recently to the undercover detective who
arrested him. The two men sat and chatted on the outdoor patio of a
coffeehouse. Craig said he's no longer interested in getting stoned,
much less running a grow house again. He said he attended counseling
sessions and got clean.

The detective noticed Craig had lost weight. The former grower said he
has joined a gym and made new friends. He got a regular job, does
volunteer work for anti-drug charities and feels a great weight has
been lifted.

"I didn't want to be scared anymore," Craig said. "I'm accountable to
people and friends. Weed was an excuse to not face your life."

He said he's no longer afraid to go outside. When asked what he
planned to do for the rest of the day, Craig looked up at the sky and
said his afternoon was wide open.

"I don't know," he said. "I might go to the beach."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake