A cannabis factory "in every street", dealer tells Argus (From The Argus)
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A cannabis factory "in every street", dealer tells Argus
1:09pm Monday 22nd October 2012 in News Exclusive By Bill Gardner
A cannabis factory "in every street"
Police have discovered rising numbers of hidden cannabis farms set up by criminals in rented homes across Sussex.
One dealer told The Argus he believed there was now a drug factory on every major street in Brighton and Hove.
Instead of risking discovery by growing cannabis in industrial quantities themselves, gangs are using an army of small-time dealers to grow super-strength “skunk” in residential homes across the county.
Earlier this month Sussex Police launched a handbook to help oblivious landlords spot the clues that their properties are being used to grow and sell drugs.
Police have also found evidence of landlords colluding with dealers to skim off drug profits for themselves.
So far this year officers have found 46 cannabis farms in residential properties in Sussex – already more than the whole of last year.
Argus reporter Bill Gardner was welcomed into one residential drug factory to lift the lid on a hidden network of drug dealers spreading out across the county.
I don't know what I was expecting exactly – but it certainly wasn’t this.
I thought drug dealers lived in filthy dens in grotty little side streets, perhaps with a posse of prostitutes, heavies and Rottweilers.
But instead I was standing at the door of a neat Regency town house on a pretty Hove street, waiting patiently for a criminal to let me inside.
Behind me, a mother pushed her pram down the tree-lined pavement and two schoolgirls wandered home along a row of parked cars.
Soon the door opened to reveal a respectable-looking young man dressed in shirt and jeans.
“Come in mate,” he said politely, ushering me into the house and through to a side-door to his basement flat.
Inside was a tiny hallway with three closed doors and a joss stick burning slowly on a table.
The dealer shut the door behind me and grinned.
“I call this my airlock,” he said. “You can’t smell anything bad can you?”
I shook my head.
“Good,” he said, kicking away a rolled up towel from the base of the left hand door before beckoning me quickly inside.
A sweet, almost sickly smell hit me right away. The room was darkened, with a black cloth covering over the single window.
On the ceiling, a giant silver pipe snaked between a set of piercing white lights and out of sight into an alcove.
The cannabis plants seemed huge. They were ranged in black pots in three rows of ten, with clumps of the drug hanging heavily from every branch.
“Pretty sweet, eh? They’re almost ready,” the drug dealer said, smirking proudly.
“So how much do you make off this?” I asked, trying to sound relaxed.
“Only about 14 grand a year profit including rent,” he said. “But I’m pretty small time compared to most of the growers around here.
“The thing is, it’s so easy. Landlords in Brighton are so stupid and most of them never bother coming to check what’s going on.
“As long as you keep the rent coming in, they don’t care. None of the neighbours have a clue either.”
He told me his expensive equipment had been rented from a so-called ‘head’ shop in downtown Brighton.
“That part’s all completely legal and they’ll take it back off you after you’ve finished. They know exactly what’s going on.
“They’ll even show you a scrapbook of seeds to buy before you start growing.”
The dealer told me many of the city dealers he knew chose not to live alongside their drug factories.
Instead, many employ “gardeners” to go round the rented flats to look after the precious plants.
“They go there about twice a week to make it look like someone’s living there – and sometimes the dealers put timers on the lights otherwise it might look suspicious,” he said.
“Usually there’s no way for the police or the neighbours to know what’s going on. I would say there is someone doing this on every street in Brighton now.”
According to Dean, cannabis production in Sussex is no longer directly in the hands of big time criminals.
After a police crackdown on skunk supply lines, the major players instead use small time dealers to grow cannabis for them in houses all over the city.
Each grower sends some of their crop to their money man, and they sell the rest in small “baggies” at premium prices to local smokers.
Dean said: “The problem is you lose money when you sell it in big bits so most people like to shift some of it themselves.
“It’s a hassle having people come round all the time though because people get suspicious. But it’s putting money back into the local economy so I think it’s a good thing for the city.”
Although the drug gangs make less money than when they grew the drug themselves in huge industrial operations, they have reduced their risk of serious punishment by spreading out production using small-time dealers.
Dean said: “There’s a huge hidden network of people in Brighton that has grown massively over the last few years.
“If the police find someone growing 300 plants, they’ll be in a lot of trouble. But if they find someone growing 30 plants, not much will happen.
“I know a guy who was found with a pretty major grow in his house and he got off with a caution.
“The reward is definitely worth the risk now.”
We sat chatting in the drug den for a few more minutes before it was time to go.
“Someone’ll be coming in a minute so you’d better shoot off,” he said.
As we said our goodbyes on his doorstep, a twenty-something man in a suit came up the stairs, looking nervous.
“Come in mate,” said the dealer, without a look at me, and I walked off quickly down the street.
Comments(55)
Brightonite
says...
1:37pm Mon 22 Oct 12
There is a distinct moral hypocrisy here. Which does more harm and is yet legal and acceptable?
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
says...
1:45pm Mon 22 Oct 12
It's worth pointing out that he says 'every MAJOR street', and I think the printed version says there could be a factory 'in any street' - which is true. But kudos to the Argus subbie, he/she's obviously got a job application in with the Daily Mail and wants to be able to show them an example of their work.
NickBrt
says...
1:54pm Mon 22 Oct 12
sussexram40
says...
1:57pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Tom Speed
says...
2:00pm Mon 22 Oct 12
There are probably as many strains of Cannabis as there are Wines, and one only needs to frequent one of the hundreds of 'grow forums' and read one of the many 'grow diaries' to see how utterly passionate people are about their Cannabis, they're as much connoisseurs of Cannabis, as are the wine drinking Judges who would sentence them for doing what they do!
Users of Cannabis enjoy the many strains available for a few reasons, recreational, medicinal & spiritual mainly, and as an ex-grower myself, to hear people marginalizing Cannabis as only being 'Skunk' is very annoying and also shows their ignorance on the subject.
Using alcohol as an analogy (all analogies are ultimately bad, but hey...), it would be like the Police, Government, and everyone else assuming that people *only* brewed some kind of potent Whiskey, when the truth is people actually enjoy brewing *all* manner of alcohol.
Government are deliberately dragging their feet with regard to Cannabis, they simply won't let go of Prohibition, even worse they continue to use the result *of* Prohibition (an unregulated market with products of unknown quantities), to reinforce the very same failed Policy!
Was it Einstein who said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result?
Cash Bull
says...
2:03pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Tom Speed wrote:I dunno the Einstein dude, and if he did say something deep, I guess I missed it.
Could we please dispense with the 'super strength skunk' scaremongering?
There are probably as many strains of Cannabis as there are Wines, and one only needs to frequent one of the hundreds of 'grow forums' and read one of the many 'grow diaries' to see how utterly passionate people are about their Cannabis, they're as much connoisseurs of Cannabis, as are the wine drinking Judges who would sentence them for doing what they do!
Users of Cannabis enjoy the many strains available for a few reasons, recreational, medicinal & spiritual mainly, and as an ex-grower myself, to hear people marginalizing Cannabis as only being 'Skunk' is very annoying and also shows their ignorance on the subject.
Using alcohol as an analogy (all analogies are ultimately bad, but hey...), it would be like the Police, Government, and everyone else assuming that people *only* brewed some kind of potent Whiskey, when the truth is people actually enjoy brewing *all* manner of alcohol.
Government are deliberately dragging their feet with regard to Cannabis, they simply won't let go of Prohibition, even worse they continue to use the result *of* Prohibition (an unregulated market with products of unknown quantities), to reinforce the very same failed Policy!
Was it Einstein who said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result?
baron Von Skidmark
says...
2:08pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Cash Bull
says...
2:28pm Mon 22 Oct 12
baron Von Skidmark wrote:SMOKIN' Comment I agree 100 percent on that!
Better this than a 'Starbucks' ?? ...or Tesco Metro..?
lorrie1
says...
2:39pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Tom Speed wrote:Einstien was definetly around when cannabis was legal! I cant see why not he didnt try it, Easy as m=2"????? cant remember, What were we talking about? Oh yeah LEGALIZE WEED!!!!
Could we please dispense with the 'super strength skunk' scaremongering? There are probably as many strains of Cannabis as there are Wines, and one only needs to frequent one of the hundreds of 'grow forums' and read one of the many 'grow diaries' to see how utterly passionate people are about their Cannabis, they're as much connoisseurs of Cannabis, as are the wine drinking Judges who would sentence them for doing what they do! Users of Cannabis enjoy the many strains available for a few reasons, recreational, medicinal & spiritual mainly, and as an ex-grower myself, to hear people marginalizing Cannabis as only being 'Skunk' is very annoying and also shows their ignorance on the subject. Using alcohol as an analogy (all analogies are ultimately bad, but hey...), it would be like the Police, Government, and everyone else assuming that people *only* brewed some kind of potent Whiskey, when the truth is people actually enjoy brewing *all* manner of alcohol. Government are deliberately dragging their feet with regard to Cannabis, they simply won't let go of Prohibition, even worse they continue to use the result *of* Prohibition (an unregulated market with products of unknown quantities), to reinforce the very same failed Policy! Was it Einstein who said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result?
sosparty
says...
2:41pm Mon 22 Oct 12
nemenator
says...
2:44pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Toulous Le Plot
says...
2:54pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Crystal Ball
says...
3:03pm Mon 22 Oct 12
platelet
says...
3:26pm Mon 22 Oct 12
sussexram40
says...
3:41pm Mon 22 Oct 12
cvs
says...
3:42pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Toulous Le Plot wrote:I know that old joke. They couldn't remember what they were doing that day.
I know that at the last 'LEGALISE DOPE' March over 2 million people meant to show up."
A_Smith
says...
3:48pm Mon 22 Oct 12
A_Smith
says...
3:51pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Jetsamandflotsam
says...
3:58pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Jetsamandflotsam
says...
3:58pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Perseus
says...
4:07pm Mon 22 Oct 12
MarkBrighton
says...
4:07pm Mon 22 Oct 12
People should really be allowed to eat drink or smoke whatever they want.. its their bodies.. their minds.. why do law makers think they have the right to dictate to people what they do with their own bodies.. when it harms no one.. where is the crime exactly?
lorrie1
says...
4:12pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Then as we all know Holland, now spain, portugal,(Where ALL drugs are LEGAL in pesonal ammounts) greese, gemany and pretty much every other country in europe also supports this but whey dont they tolerate it here?
The goverment has no b@@s!
SeeYouJimmy
says...
4:35pm Mon 22 Oct 12
its a joke - the hypocracy of the government is unbelievable.
even when the is public support for legalisation they still think they know better.
even when the ACMD supports legalisation, the politicians know best.
they need to remember who they work for! what makes them specialists in the field of cannabis? they are actively reducing the number of scientists on the ACMD because they disagree with what they have to say.
screw you government
mr punch
says...
4:52pm Mon 22 Oct 12
I particlarly like the line........... "I thought drug dealers lived in filthy dens in grotty little side streets, perhaps with a posse of prostitutes, heavies and Rottweilers." Me thinks the argus should get some more modern reporters cos this geezer is either in a time warp.. or off his head!
Fairfax Sakes
says...
4:52pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Flippin Burghers
says...
5:10pm Mon 22 Oct 12
baron Von Skidmark wrote:...and the boy gets a cigar!
Better this than a 'Starbucks' ?? ...or Tesco Metro..?
Babs Stanley
says...
6:33pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Doctors would be able to prescribe one of the most effective medicines that has no serious side effects at all. At the moment the government has given GW Pharmaceuticals an illegal monopoly on cannabis so they make millions out of a medicine that you can grow in your greenhouse for virtually nothing.
If we introduced a legally regulated system we would solve nearly all the problems around cannabis. Science proves how much safer it is than tobacco, alcohol, prescription medicines and all other recreational drugs. If anyone does have a problem with it they could get help without having to confess to a crime.
CLEAR published independent, expert research last year which shows that a tax and regulate policy on cannabis would produce a net gain to the UK economy of up to £9.3 billion per annum.
It is a scandal that our government, our judges, our courts, our police and our newspapers keep misleading us about cannabis. Find out the truth for yourself and wake up to the lies you have been told.
Nitrous_McBread
says...
6:48pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Plus, of course, quality could be controlled; people with a whole range of conditions could have easy, non-criminalising access to effective pain-relief; proper research could be implemented to develop a method of delivery which wasn't so harmful to the lungs; and the police would finally be free from having to fight the unwinnable, never-ending war against private citizens who, instead of going out, drinking and starting fights, prefer to sit at home, get mellow and listen to Zion Train LPs.
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
6:55pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Why is it that pot smokers stink of old ladies' bungalows, patchouli oil and damp hessian.
I don't care what they grow or smoke as long as they keep the windows shut because they stink of pi**.
jway87
says...
7:01pm Mon 22 Oct 12
keep marijuana illegal and
make children LESS safe.
hubby
says...
8:44pm Mon 22 Oct 12
Flippin Burghers
says...
9:25pm Mon 22 Oct 12
NattyFido
says...
10:16pm Mon 22 Oct 12
The bad journalism shouts from the page, I smell a future Daily Mail reporter-in-training
!
The reason 'skunk' is 'stronger' than other strains of weed is because it has been bred that way, just like shire horses have been bred to be stronger than your average horse.
The government (or anybody else) have NO right to tell me what I can and cannot put into my body. Why is it possible for a person to drink themselves to death for less than a weeks JSA, but illegal to smoke or eat a beneficial plant?
The tories want to cut spending on crime, decriminalise cannabis! Stop sending peaceful users of a plant to prison!
It is our duty as citizens to challenge bad laws, even if it means going to prison, they can't lock all of us up, we are legion!
Normalise now!
emma barnes
says...
11:54pm Mon 22 Oct 12
JKW
says...
6:37am Tue 23 Oct 12
Dr Pork
says...
7:28am Tue 23 Oct 12
NattyFido wrote:I take it you've tried smoking a shire horse then?
So much wrong with this article
The bad journalism shouts from the page, I smell a future Daily Mail reporter-in-training
!
The reason 'skunk' is 'stronger' than other strains of weed is because it has been bred that way, just like shire horses have been bred to be stronger than your average horse.
The government (or anybody else) have NO right to tell me what I can and cannot put into my body. Why is it possible for a person to drink themselves to death for less than a weeks JSA, but illegal to smoke or eat a beneficial plant?
The tories want to cut spending on crime, decriminalise cannabis! Stop sending peaceful users of a plant to prison!
It is our duty as citizens to challenge bad laws, even if it means going to prison, they can't lock all of us up, we are legion!
Normalise now!
I once vowed I'd never do anything stronger than a Shetland pony but they're little more than a gateway breed and dealers know this.
Skidrow
says...
8:18am Tue 23 Oct 12
Once it is legalised, will there be a queue at the red leb shelf or the moroccan black one? No, because no one will buy legalised blow. It will be far too dear. There will be import duty, VAT, Skunk tax, Punk tax and anyone else who knows me tax as well as a large profit for whichever supermarket sells it, so again, it will be better to buy it from the bloke who does the organic, down the road.
BiggerH
says...
8:34am Tue 23 Oct 12
Nosfaratu
says...
8:48am Tue 23 Oct 12
Babs Stanley
says...
9:06am Tue 23 Oct 12
Skidrow wrote:Nonsense, once it becomes legally available, growing your own will become a niche hobby for eccentrics. A wide variety of high quality products will be available with a choice of cannabinoid ratios.
So when your blow is on sale in Boots, will you go there and buy it or would you prefer "organic" skunk, free from all those nasty chemicals the farmers would use to to cultivate them? Available from a bloke down the road, just as it is now.
Once it is legalised, will there be a queue at the red leb shelf or the moroccan black one? No, because no one will buy legalised blow. It will be far too dear. There will be import duty, VAT, Skunk tax, Punk tax and anyone else who knows me tax as well as a large profit for whichever supermarket sells it, so again, it will be better to buy it from the bloke who does the organic, down the road.
It'll become a consumer market like any other.
Dr Pork
says...
9:24am Tue 23 Oct 12
Nosfaratu wrote:I never inhaled
Has anybody who has commented actually 'NOT' smoked the stuff, as you all seem pretty clued up.
SmileyD
says...
9:43am Tue 23 Oct 12
Nitrous_McBread wrote:Blimey - you mean people actually listen to Zion Train LP's? I thought they just used them to skin up on!
What pees me off most about all this is the missed opportunities: if weed was legalised and taxed, money would flood in to the nation's coffers which is currently going into the pockets of the criminal gangs - and there would be absolutely no need for the cuts we're witnessing to the benefits and services for the most vulnerable members of our community.
Plus, of course, quality could be controlled; people with a whole range of conditions could have easy, non-criminalising access to effective pain-relief; proper research could be implemented to develop a method of delivery which wasn't so harmful to the lungs; and the police would finally be free from having to fight the unwinnable, never-ending war against private citizens who, instead of going out, drinking and starting fights, prefer to sit at home, get mellow and listen to Zion Train LPs.
Tom Speed
says...
9:49am Tue 23 Oct 12
In an episode of Cheers, one of the show's main characters, Diane (the blonde barmaid) comments on a painting, and she says (words to the effect of): "looks like the artist was on 'skunk weed' when he painted that picture." (Hey I'm a fan of the show.... shoot me! :) )
As for GW Pharma... well well now...the very company that has filed 35 or so Cannabis related Patents in the last 10 years!
(Source European Patent Office): http://i.imgur.com/v
lu12.jpg
Everything from Cancer to 'breathlessness' (part of their C.O.P.D Patent)
http://worldwide.esp
acenet.com/searchRes
ults?compact=false&S
T=quick&DB=EPODOC&pa
ge=1&locale=en_EP&IA
=gw+pharma&sortField
=ud&ascending=true
The truth is out there! :)
Skidrow
says...
10:53am Tue 23 Oct 12
9:06am Tue 23 Oct 12
Skidrow wrote:
So when your blow is on sale in Boots, will you go there and buy it or would you prefer "organic" skunk, free from all those nasty chemicals the farmers would use to to cultivate them? Available from a bloke down the road, just as it is now.
Once it is legalised, will there be a queue at the red leb shelf or the moroccan black one? No, because no one will buy legalised blow. It will be far too dear. There will be import duty, VAT, Skunk tax, Punk tax and anyone else who knows me tax as well as a large profit for whichever supermarket sells it, so again, it will be better to buy it from the bloke who does the organic, down the road.
Nonsense, once it becomes legally available, growing your own will become a niche hobby for eccentrics. A wide variety of high quality products will be available with a choice of cannabinoid ratios.
It'll become a consumer market like any other.
Er, no it won't because it will never happen! Even if it did, in a consumer market, price is king. It isn't a case of growing your own, it is a case of growing to supply a local market.
Flippin Burghers
says...
11:41am Tue 23 Oct 12
PorkBoat
says...
12:44pm Tue 23 Oct 12
Dr Pork wrote:I inhaled but never exhaled.
Nosfaratu wrote:I never inhaled
Has anybody who has commented actually 'NOT' smoked the stuff, as you all seem pretty clued up.
Nosfaratu
says...
1:39pm Tue 23 Oct 12
PorkBoat wrote:I was right then, i am having an on-line conversation with junkies.
Dr Pork wrote:I inhaled but never exhaled.Nosfaratu wrote: Has anybody who has commented actually 'NOT' smoked the stuff, as you all seem pretty clued up.I never inhaled
Why dont the Green Party create a 'Free Zone' where everybody can get their weed from the plants growing in the Councils flower beds. They could have 'Weed Wardens, fining anybody not smoking and creat another revenue pool.
Just though it may appeal to all the above.
Dr Pork
says...
2:07pm Tue 23 Oct 12
Nosfaratu wrote:Great idea but don't hold your breath
PorkBoat wrote:I was right then, i am having an on-line conversation with junkies.
Dr Pork wrote:I inhaled but never exhaled.Nosfaratu wrote: Has anybody who has commented actually 'NOT' smoked the stuff, as you all seem pretty clued up.I never inhaled
Why dont the Green Party create a 'Free Zone' where everybody can get their weed from the plants growing in the Councils flower beds. They could have 'Weed Wardens, fining anybody not smoking and creat another revenue pool.
Just though it may appeal to all the above.
PorkBoat
says...
3:13pm Tue 23 Oct 12
Dr Pork wrote:Wish someone had told me that before.
Nosfaratu wrote:Great idea but don't hold your breath
PorkBoat wrote:I was right then, i am having an on-line conversation with junkies.
Dr Pork wrote:I inhaled but never exhaled.Nosfaratu wrote: Has anybody who has commented actually 'NOT' smoked the stuff, as you all seem pretty clued up.I never inhaled
Why dont the Green Party create a 'Free Zone' where everybody can get their weed from the plants growing in the Councils flower beds. They could have 'Weed Wardens, fining anybody not smoking and creat another revenue pool.
Just though it may appeal to all the above.
egym64
says...
9:22pm Tue 23 Oct 12
lorrie1 wrote:I'm sorry, but where is " Greese & Gemany"?? If you're going to join a debate then PLEASE use spell check!!
If we are supposed to be in the E.U then surley we should go by there laws, In Brussels its tolerated in small amounts, Just across the border!
Then as we all know Holland, now spain, portugal,(Where ALL drugs are LEGAL in pesonal ammounts) greese, gemany and pretty much every other country in europe also supports this but whey dont they tolerate it here?
The goverment has no b@@s!
OldBrightonian
says...
10:39pm Tue 23 Oct 12
OV'T HOSTELS etc - ie off the Streets where they end up preying on the GOOD citizens who CONTRIBUTE to society, and don't opt for the DROP OUT scenario.
portslade pete
says...
12:34am Wed 24 Oct 12
Camel54 wrote:Can he put them on google maps? After all, every pub is on there. Live and let live.....
I thought we wanted to encourage small enterprises?
grumpybumm
says...
5:56pm Wed 24 Oct 12
Camel54 says...
1:24pm Mon 22 Oct 12