Ganja and Guns: a bad combination

Recently, I was sent a news story by a colleague of mine. It involved a bodybuilder type, and a police investigation into the theft of gym equipment in the north of England that led them to the door of this guy. It transpired that he had indeed committed the theft, so the police busted him.

Recently, I was sent a news story by a colleague of mine. It involved a bodybuilder type, and a police investigation into the theft of gym equipment in the north of England that led them to the door of this guy. It transpired that he had indeed committed the theft, so the police busted him. 

What's this got to do with weed. you're probably wondering? Well, while searching his house, they found a cannabis farm capable of putting out £1.5 million worth of weed a year (police estimate), so they busted him for that as well.

The concerning part of this, however, is that they also found an unlicensed shotgun and over 800 rounds of ammunition for - get this - a Kalashnikov machine gun.  

There was a similar story regarding a different case with police raiding a house and finding a "pipe bomb making factory". They also found a cannabis farm in the house. 

Personally, I find this overlap between dope and (potentially extreme) violence somewhat worrying, while being simultaneously pleased that neither of the individuals arrested appear to have the brains they were born with. 

Unless I'm totally out of the loop on this, one of the basic tenets of growing weed in a country where weed is a banned or controlled substance is "keep one's head down and don't draw undue attention to oneself", right?

Back in the mists of time, when I still did a lot of "hands on" research into this kind of thing, I interviewed a pretty successful mid-level grower. During the course of our discussion, the issue of cannabis growers and links to organised crime came up. The guy told me that, while he was affiliated with a loose group of like-minded independent growers, and that this could probably be interpreted by the law as "organised" criminality, the reality of it was that they veered more towards "disorganised crime". None of them were involved in anything shady beyond their horticultural pursuits (which is why none of them to my knowledge were ever busted), and there was absolutely no question of weaponry of any sort being possessed or even required, such was the nature of the people they dealt with. If anyone was burned or ripped off, then the others simply closed ranks and refused to supply to the offender until the matter was resolved: no need for even the threat of violence. 

In fact, I'd have to say that -horticultural activities aside - the majority of the growers (and dealers, come to that) were/are violence-averse law abiding citizens for whom the above sort of antics would be regarded as highly uncool.

It's very rare for me to say what I'm about to say when it comes to seizures and arrests involving the herb, but good on the police for taking these two genius's out of circulation. Getting stoned is a nice, pleasant thing to do (for most people), distributed by (mostly) pleasant enough people looking to make a living; what's most definitely not needed in the marketplace are gun-toting/pipe bomb making psychopaths with an eye on a quick buck muscling in on the market. 

I know that the illegality of weed combined with its considerable money making potential will inevitably attract the hoodlum element, and that - a lot of the time - they bring a big element of mayhem to the party. One of the problems here is that this kind of thing - guns and what have you - tends to beget more of the same, and suddenly everyone is tooled up; either that or all of the growers and dealers with no appetite for that kind of carry on retire, leaving the business in the hands of money grabbing gangsters.

And that's a thought I for one find intolerable.

Dr Dee