# 2007 record year for pot grow houses



## FruityBud (Dec 27, 2007)

2007 was a record year for grow house busts. With 15 marijuana grow houses discovered in Charlotte County, 20 in Sarasota County and four in DeSoto County, raising pot became one of the area's hottest cottage industries.

Capt. Jeff Bell of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force attributes much of the increase to reduced housing costs, coupled with lots of real estate available in rural, sparsely populated neighborhoods.

"Grow houses are very active in our area," Bell said. "We have been working hard to shut them down, but we haven't seen much of a decline yet."

Bell believes many, if not most, of the grow houses busted this year are connected with Miami- or Cuban-based organized crime devoted to drug trafficking.

In south Sarasota County, 18 of the 20 grow house busts were in North Port, resulting in 30 arrests to date.

In Charlotte County, 15 grow houses were raided this year by law enforcement, including one at 40091 Suzan Drive, off State Road 31, discovered Nov. 30 as Charlotte County deputies investigated a fatal shooting.

*New cottage industry*

Grow houses are relatively inexpensive to operate, and the financial rewards can be significant. Mature pot plants can be worth $3,000 to $7,000 each, and three or four crops can be harvested each year.

Operators of grow houses have to be skilled electricians, plumbers and horticulturists. Typically, they rewire the electrical supply coming into the house to bypass the meter to draw sufficient power for the high-wattage lights used to grow the marijuana. Only the typical household electrical needs -- room lighting, appliances, water heaters, and household cooling and heating -- use metered electricity so as to appear to have normal use levels.

Plumbing may be rerouted to bring water to tanks where it is mixed with plant nutrients and delivered in a hydroponic system. Some grow houses have used well water -- so that unusually high water usage does not draw attention -- or a swimming pool to store water for the plants.

Often, doors and windows are covered so no one can see in and spot the plants growing there. Inside, the rooms are often lined with reflective aluminum wallboard to maximize lighting. The lights themselves are usually run off a bank of junction boxes.

Cooling is essential due to the heat generated by the lights. Often, extra air-conditioner units are installed in the rooms where the plants are being grown, rather than having extra units outdoors where they might draw attention. Fans are used to keep the delicate leaves moving and minimize the chance of infections from fungus.

Operators adopt ruses to make the house appear as though it is a normal neighborhood residence. At one house, toys were occasionally strewn in the driveway, even though no children were actually living in the home. Others even placed Christmas decorations around the yard to blend in.

In some grow houses, no on actually lives there, but someone visits once or twice a week. In others, one or a few people reside there.

Often, the odor of marijuana can be detected outside the home, especially when the door is opened. Pot grown indoors is much more potent than marijuana grown in fields. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be three or four times higher when grown hydroponically.

Grow houses in Southwest Florida have been found with anywhere from 30 to almost 250 plants growing. At roughly a pound per plant per harvest, and assuming three harvests per year at $3,000 or more per pound, each plant can be worth $10,000 annually. Hence, a typical grow house here can generate from a quarter-million dollars to $2 million or more per year.

*Why here, why now?*

Reports indicate that more than 300 such operations have been discovered and shut down in the Miami-Dade area. Even as pressure mounts in Lee County, growers are moving north. Financiers are finding houses in Southwest Florida to be reasonably priced, and many are in remote rural locations where they will attract little attention.

While law enforcement officers may seize houses used in marijuana growing, just as they might seize a criminal's car or other valuables, rarely is a grow house confiscated. In part, that is because the modifications and damage done to the house to maximize room for plants make the building virtually unlivable.

Some houses are unsafe. For instance, one recently busted in North Port had a sagging bedroom floor because it was saturated with water from the plants grown in the second-floor master suite. The living room ceiling was saturated and starting to fall down. Others have walls torn down and rooms lined with reflective foamboard.

Law enforcement agencies have begun working closely together to discover and dismantle grow houses. For example, the Sarasota Sheriff's South County Narcotics Task Force includes not only deputies but officers from the cities of North Port and Venice.

Bell said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and even the federal Drug Enforcement Administration cooperate by sharing information and resources, as well as assistance in prosecution. Bell said this is especially important where drug operations cross state lines.

Despite the many grow house busts this year, Bell said, "We have not really seen a decline yet" in their numbers. Grow house busts are expected to continue in the new year.

http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=122707&story=tp1ch4.htm&folder=NewsArchive2


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Dec 27, 2007)

ya dude,
 Ohio had a record pot busts this year too.
 I dont know if you guys have heard, but mutiple big pot busts, have occured in ohio, and made natonal news.
    it was found that it was mainly like chinese people, growing a bunch of weed in suburban homes......why chinese???


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## Hashassin (Dec 28, 2007)

i used to live in sarasota county..venice florida actually..first place i ever smoked pot...


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## Puffin Afatty (Dec 28, 2007)

these commercial grows will bring the heat down on everyone...the Gov wants their cut of the action...lol


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## Puffin Afatty (Dec 28, 2007)

Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> ya dude,
> Ohio had a record pot busts this year too.
> I dont know if you guys have heard, but mutiple big pot busts, have occured in ohio, and made natonal news.
> it was found that it was mainly like chinese people, growing a bunch of weed in suburban homes......why chinese???


 
I heard it was vietnamese, a gang thing...very lucrative way to go, probably gonna be alot more...:hubba:


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## Fretless (Dec 28, 2007)

FruityBud said:
			
		

> Pot grown indoors is much more potent than marijuana grown in fields. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be three or four times higher when grown hydroponically.


 
    Doesn't quite ring true, does it?


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## Blunted (Dec 28, 2007)

yeah putting OHIO on the map! Wow don't they realize by legalizing pot there wouldn't be these "drug houses", weed's street value  and its so called connection with organized crime wouldn't exist, but its never even considered as a solution. O wait i forgot the govt just wants everyone stupid and addicted to there own brand of drug, painkillers and such, so they can regulate supply and demand (addiction) and get those drug companies even richer. Its ironically funny that perscription pills are the most abused drugs in america, yet the govt spends some much time and money, ALSO OUR MONEY, trying to eradicate a weed. O man the injustice, I need to go relax and smoke one!


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## Blunted (Dec 28, 2007)

"Pot grown indoors is much more potent than marijuana grown in fields. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be three or four times higher when grown hydroponically."

3 or 4 times when grown hydro? where do thet get this info from?


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## tom-tom (Dec 29, 2007)

ive also herd hydro is way stronger than a soil grow ,,i herd if u take 2 of the same strain and grow one in hydro and the outher in soil the hydro will be stronger,,now im shure no soil guys will want to admit to this but it sounds like its possible to me ,,but im shure someone with way more experience will no 









HAPPY GROWIN TOM TOM
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR


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## allgrownup (Dec 29, 2007)

> Pot grown indoors is much more potent than marijuana grown in fields. The amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, can be three or four times higher when grown hydroponically.



or

Pot grown outdoors is much more potent than marijuana grown indoors in buckets of plain o water. LOL

it all in the genetics,  what ya feed it, and how ya treat your girlz.  the aggregate its grown dont mean sheeeeeeeet


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## Fretless (Dec 29, 2007)

Yes I highlighted that passage as a "Propaganda Bust".  
  They want to masses to think that Hydroponics is some kind of wizardry, and that it turns otherwise pedestrian plants into White Widows.  
   Hydroponics does increase yields and decrease grow times.  But given halfway decent environmental control, potency is largely genetic.

     Quite the contrary, a larger difference between day and night temperatures (as in outdoor growing) is thought by many to increase potency.


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## thediamond (Dec 29, 2007)

We'll I say it seems harder to find it than it ever has in Kentucky, Or maybe my habit has just out grown my suppliers...........hmmm


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## Midnight Toker (Jan 13, 2008)

Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> ya dude,
> Ohio had a record pot busts this year too.
> I dont know if you guys have heard, but mutiple big pot busts, have occured in ohio, and made natonal news.
> it was found that it was mainly like chinese people, growing a bunch of weed in suburban homes......why chinese???


I know man, about 3 apt's were just busted in lakewood (ohio)....vietnimese owners of 3 aptarments next to each other were raided and all the rooms had weed growing in them....its insane. sorry im kinda high


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