Cannabis farm finds 'treble'

[abbot lau]

From the BBC (and in various newspapers):

The number of cannabis farms being found by police has trebled over the last two years, according to a report.

Charity DrugScope said 1,500 cannabis farms were found in London alone in the past two years, compared with around 500 in the previous two years.

Its magazine Druglink said over 60% of cannabis sold in the UK was grown here, compared to 11% 10 years ago.

The charity said analysis of police raids showed up to 75% of cannabis farms were run by Vietnamese gangs.

In the last 12 months, Vietnamese-run cannabis farms have been found in London, Birmingham, south Wales, the North East, Yorkshire and East Anglia, DrugScope added.

Residential properties

An average of 400 plants are recovered in a police raid, as officers continue to target farms in residential and commercial properties.

DrugScope's Martin Barnes said many of the farms were set up in empty residential properties taken over by the growers.

"Sometimes, often because of the link with people trafficking, somebody can be committed to actually looking after the property," he told BBC News.

"We have come across cases where neighbours have actually reported the existence of these plants because burglars have broken into a house, have accidentally stumbled upon cannabis and have been seen running away with the stuff."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6444357.stm

I love the fact that loads of these 'Farms' have been established and run by the Vietnamese.  There's a great film in there - imagine a squad of tooled-up police navigating their way through a lush jungle with Vietnamese guys launching surprise attacks and setting bamboo-crafted traps- all within a semi in Birmingham.[/url]

[Mister Six]

I think you've just pitched the sequel to Hot Fuzz.

[Uncle TechTip]

Gahh, what annyed me was the Drugscope shill on the radio warning us of the danger these factories pose to "the local children" - as if these guys are selling the weed from the door of the quiet suburban semi. This stuff will be headed for the cities. Wontsomebodythinkofthechildren!!

[mothman]

I read the thread title as "Cannabis Farm wins Treble" and thought "Never heard of them, are they a Conference side?"

[Deadman97]

From the BBC (and in various newspapers):

In the last 12 months, Vietnamese-run cannabis farms have been found in... south Wales

So why the fuck have I got to bust my arse sorting out postage and going to Bristol just to pick up? After the great drought of '06 the valleys are still dry as Ghandi's flip-flop.

Come on!!

[Uncle TechTip]

I wonder if these are the guys spraying it with glass-etching spray? cos apparently that's what most Brit weed is covered in now, a gritty sand-like substance.

[Deadman97]

I've heard and read loads about that too, but haven't once seen it for myself. I think it's a case of "a bit of grit weed" times "a lot of paranoia" added to "people exaggerating" and mixed in with "the internet", all adding up to lots of people worried about very little.

[solidified gruel merchant]

I've heard and read loads about that too, but haven't once seen it for myself. I think it's a case of "a bit of grit weed" times "a lot of paranoia" added to "people exaggerating" and mixed in with "the internet", all adding up to lots of people worried about very little.

Not true. There's been loads of it round my way. I put some through a tea strainer and had a pile of little solid green particles that when burned turned a nasty black colour and belched what could well be toxic smoke.
It is getting better, but for a while all I could get was this 'grit' weed.

[Jemble Fred]

Being forced to go elsewhere for mine last month, I ended up with gritweed for the first time, and it was certainly horrible stuff. Hopefully won't happen again, it's only really bad sources that'll land you with such shite.

[Deadman97]

In which case I recant that post with apologies- shitty situation.

[Beagle 2]

I got some of that stuff too, I don't smoke spliffs though and through a bong I noticed no difference at all in terms of harshness. When I first got it it was really quite obvious, it was glistening like tinsel, it's all sort of disintigrated now.

It's so depressing coming back from Amsterdam. I had to give the stuff I had left over to this random bloke whilst waiting for the coach to take us back, as although it would be an absolute piece of piss to get through ferry customs, consisting of a bored man in a little booth, it's just not worth it. He wasn't particularly thankful. It's bloody everywhere, why would he be?

Bah, why is it better to have gangs in charge of this crap than a couple of plants in my airing cupboard? Why does anybody think that? No tax I suppose. If I could afford to buy my own place and dispense with nosy landlords I'd grow oodles of the stuff, and sell not a bit of it.

[Jemble Fred]

Even if we asked really nicely and sent an SAE?

[Beagle 2]

I wondered about posting back from Holland but I'm sure millions of people have the same idea, somebody told me they open practically all parcels going abroad, but I'm sure it can't be that hard to slip through the net.

I would be OK to grow some at my mother's house amongst the tomatoes and broad beans, but the fact is that anything that takes you closer to the plot of Saving Grace is a terrible idea.

[Make me smile]

I wondered about posting back from Holland but I'm sure millions of people have the same idea, somebody told me they open practically all parcels going abroad, but I'm sure it can't be that hard to slip through the net.

I would be OK to grow some at my mother's house amongst the tomatoes and broad beans, but the fact is that anything that takes you closer to the plot of Saving Grace is a terrible idea.

I had a friend in Amsterdam who used to send stuff back all the time. Her smuggling technique was skillfull but in reality woefully inadequate for beating sniffer dogs etc (one method was to crack open a C90 and mould resin to the insides before sticking the tape together again). Oh, and she used to send it to a variety of made up names at my address....which again was unlikely to fool the law, but seemed to work.

[Uncle TechTip]

Someone put the grit weed under the microscope and found 5-10 micron diameter plastic or glass beads, and matched them with glass-frosting or etching spray. There have been reports of people coughing up blood, I think one drugs charity put a warning out. Can't get the link, am in work. Of course, none of this made it into the mainstream media.

[Deadman97]

That's the sort of post that makes it sound like pothead paranoia, though- "someone", "reports of people", "one drugs charity"...

...none of this made it into the mainstream media...

... I'm not disputing people's first-hand experience, naturally, but there's lots of that vague scaremongery about.

[sparklewhore]

very dry round my way the last few months too, which I can't understand if everyone's growing it in their lofts

[Jemble Fred]

Oh, I'd be worried if I was smoking that shit every day â€" in fact, if it was all I could get I'd give up once and for all. A week's worth was enough to give me a bit of a chest, so I can imagine the coughing-up-blood thing is true, if you have too much.

Best to stick to solid, really.

[solidified gruel merchant]

Best to stick to solid, really.

As long as it isn't soap bar.

[petercussing]

Someone put the grit weed under the microscope and found 5-10 micron diameter plastic or glass beads, and matched them with glass-frosting or etching spray. There have been reports of people coughing up blood, I think one drugs charity put a warning out. Can't get the link, am in work. Of course, none of this made it into the mainstream media.

Yeah it did, there was an article in the Gurniad and in the Star more recently. The Star claimed that it can give you silicosis which is similar to asbestosis(something which killed two of my friends parents).

This is kind of backed up by some stuff i was reading on some winced site where some chemist asked to be sent some from various parts of the country and analysed it. He seemed to think it was super bad (like James Brown) and was probably really bad for you, maybe making you be dead (like James Brown). Well maybe not dead, i just wanted to do that joke.

They also said that it started with 2 gangs in north wales spraying industrial amounts of winced with it and that lots of growers in turn followed suit, dusting with talc, sugar, sand, or whatever seemed to work.

I've also read that this problem started in France, but there you go with this type of stuff, there's lots of rumours. It's s'posed to be happening in the U.S. too. But who knows.

Arf! I also read a lie sounding post were someone was like "I had a friend who lost a lung because of this". I hope it's not true at least.

I'm really hating this, if they want more money i'll give them a bit more, rather than fuck up perfectly good gear.

The sugar winced is the most tricky kind, imo, cos you can't really tell until you lick the bud or put it in your vapourise and it start caramelising.

I reckon unless something radical is done then this will become the norm, like soap bar, but weed. Hooray! Maybe i'm just being pessimistic, though.

In short, don't bleeding buy it unless you can check and don't smoke it, or i'll foocking kill yous guys!

[Sovereign]

well all I'm saying is that in Salford we've got fucking LOADS of weed, price of an eighth ( a PROPER 8th too, 3.5) is £15 in some places due to competition, so I wouldn't panic too much.

Also the grit weed, if you get some that seems too fucking glittery just give it back the guy, say your not smoking it, they'll soon learn. Trust me, the asian dealers (whom most of the grit weed I've bought has been off) are now nearly completely frozen out of the lucrative fallowfield/manchester student weed market coz of it. More students are going back home, scoring off their old dealers, and selling it on themselves because they know that people would rather buy off them than some cliche asian guy called spider selling grit weed. the quantity of homegrown is on the rise, and so if people aren't happy with the grit weed stuff they can just stop buying it and get some proper stuff instead.

They've been putting sugar solution on weed for years, its the grit stuff thats new, and tell ya this it won't last long because dealers with honest homegrown are making a fucking fortune round here. If you can sell reliably clean weed in these girtty times you'll make a fortune. I can't go into more detail without incriminating myself.

[Uncle TechTip]

That's the sort of post that makes it sound like pothead paranoia, though- "someone", "reports of people", "one drugs charity"...

As I said, I can pull up cites, but not in work, as I don't fancy racking up cannabis sites in my history.

[solidified gruel merchant]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,1988627,00.html

http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=druggies-in-deadly-grit-weed-alert---&method=full&objectid=18606351&siteid=93463-name_page.html

http://www.drugpreventionevidence.info/web/Contaminated_Cannabis355.asp

http://www.thepoorhouse.org.uk/beware_glass_grass

http://www.ukcia.org/cannabis.php


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-Hf0NXMNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8QNeU-B3Kk

[chimpoo]

Aye, my dealer was on Wales This Week (Welsh current affairs programme) warning people about the silicon traces.  He'd seen the specks under the microscope when warned and recalled the batch back from his customers.  If anyone can find a better example of a dealer looking after his flock I'd like to hear it.

[solidified gruel merchant]

Aye, my dealer was on Wales This Week (Welsh current affairs programme) warning people about the silicon traces.  He'd seen the specks under the microscope when warned and recalled the batch back from his customers.  If anyone can find a better example of a dealer looking after his flock I'd like to hear it.

Can I have his number?

[chimpoo]

Sure.  PM me your credit card details so we can set up your account.

[Sovereign]

please dont tell me thats a wind up............

[Blumf]

I know, Direct Debt is much better for that sort of thing.

[ffogems]

Perhaps a 'how to grow your own' thread might be helpful? I've been thinking about having a go in the garden this year, but have found a lot of online guides to be confusing and muddied, so a more empirical approach could be good. Perhaps it could be started in General Bullshit under some innocuous horticultural title?

[Sovereign]

we should all meet up for a spliff sometime. I bet loads of people on this message board are total fuckheads like myself, its just not spoken of for fear of sounding like a twat.