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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Home Truths About Growing Cannabis
Bristol Evening News
Monday 23 Jun 2003 The majority of cannabis smoked in Bristol is grown in homes across the city by white middle- class men, rather than underworld gangsters, it has been claimed. Scores of undergraduates at the city's two universities have been accused of cashing in by growing the drug in secret urban 'farms'. But it is not the odd pot plant they are tending to - many are allegedly going into full-scale marijuana production by using sophisticated horticultural techniques. According to one student - who wants to be known only as Jay - lofts, cellars and spare rooms in student accommodation throughout Bristol are being transformed into grow-your-own units using ultra violet lights to simulate sunlight. Some home growers are so advanced they are using automatic sprinklers as part of a soil-free hydroponic growing system. Jay insists the days when tons of hash was produced in Morocco and other countries and then smuggled into Britain are over. He said: "Stuff still gets smuggled in, but the really good stuff is in small quantities. "Most of the dope smoked in this country is grown by white, middle-class young men. "The people I deal with are not criminals, in my eyes. "Gangsters are more interested in crack and cocaine and they're the ones who are really messing up Bristol at the moment, not pot-heads. "I don't have anything to do with that world, and neither do the people I work with. "They're in it for the money, of course they are, but they've got a conscience. "If I get caught, I'm in serious trouble. "I could hardly pass my lot off as for my own personal use." Some of the drugs grown in homes is sold to friends at a fraction of the street price, but most is sold on to dealers for huge profits. Jay has converted his attic room to conceal a thriving illegal cottage industry. The ceiling is suspended and a cavity created above has been padded with special stuffing to prevent police in a helicopter picking it up on their thermal-imaging equipment. Cannabis is due to be reclassified from a Class B to a Class C drug by Home Secretary David Blunkett later this summer. After years of campaigning, it will be legal to possess a small amount for personal use. But dealers will still be prosecuted, and could face up to 14 years behind bars.
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