Cops raid house because flowers smelled like pot

Police in Great Britain kicked in the front door of this house and ransacked it because they smelled marijuana growing. Turns out the sharp-nosed officers mistook phlox flowers in the garden for marijuana. The 77-year-old homeowner doesn't want any more trouble, so he dug up his phlox. Drug raid over smelly flowers

• [w000t]

  #4/Lucifer:

  http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7033

• [Takuan]

  http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact/

• [Takuan]

  “Washington, DC: More than 98 percent of all of the marijuana plants seized by law enforcement in the United States is feral hemp not cultivated cannabis, according to newly released data by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis ”

  thanks Wooot! It’s almost as if the DEA were a gang of lying bags of pus.

• [postliteracy_dot_org]

  It’s a lowdown shame he tore up the phlox. It’s fodder for both bees and butterflies. And the fragrance is rather nice, and decidedly unmephitic.

  In fact, almost any other plant would have been a more likely choice to have been mistaken for cannabis sativa. Like Acer palmatum, perhaps – if you squint really hard and happen to be a hortaculturally ignorant twat. But phlox? That’s just inane.

• [Mark Frauenfelder]

  Lucifer@4: “what if cannabis seeds were tossed around everywhere and they grew out of control from forests, meadows, parks, highway medians?”

  And for goodness sake don’t anyone dare drop seeds into balloons, fill the balloons with helium and set them free. That would be irresponsible.

• [Takuan]

  “inane”, “Cops”…hmmmm.

• [padster123]

  Oh yeah – another one. During a backpacking holiday in Mexico years and years ago, we were checking out of a nice hotel, and got rid of our let-over grass by sowing it in several pot plants around the lobby.

  I fondly hope that they are still thriving.

• [nanuq]

  They smelled marijuana growing? Is that some form of synaesthesia? You have to wonder why they have police dogs with noses like that on the job.

• [teb]

  The story really made me laugh. I love living Bristol!

  It’s not really surprising though, since growing marijuana indoors within the UK seems to be a popular way for criminals to make money these days.

  One of my local pubs got raided the other week after neighbours got suspicious.

  We also have entire houses that are turned into marijuana farms. This is where a criminal organisation buys a house, taps into the electricity and water mains (or maybe next-door’s) and sets up a lighting and irrigation system that runs though every room in the house.

• [littlerunninggag]

  Retired engineer Ivor, 77, dug up the Phlox and has received an apology from police, who said the raid followed “other investigations”

  I’m sorry, what other investigations could possibly have led to kicking in the door of a home owned by a 70 year old man?

  Did you maybe peek in the window and notice the fifty year old furniture, and jump to the conclusion ‘No one would possibly live in this! Must be a grow op.’

• [Frank W]

  @ Lucifer: Nobody would weed out the male plants. Or would that be a nice job for the DEA?

• [Pipenta]

  First it’s tomatoes, now this!

  What’s with the Brits these days? I thought they were all awesome gardeners! At least they used to be. Fine climate for gardening. Put us to shame, really.

  Someone needs to do a Botany for Bobbies workshop. And I think the ones who goof up and kick in doors and stage raids for phlox and tomato plants need to do some community serve, possible volunteer at a community garden and take charge of composting for summer. Perhaps help the local garden club ladies with their annual flower show. How about some ikebana lessons?

  A little time out in the potting shed would do these chaps a world of good. And then maybe they wouldn’t go into a froth the next time they see a begonia.

• [Beanolini]

  #13, TEB:

  It’s not just Bristol that has whole houses turned over to Cannabis cultivation; Vietnamese ‘gangsters’ rented and/or bought a string of properties here in the northeast and did the same.

  Nice to see that the complaints about BoingBoing’s incessant linking to the Daily Mail have paid off, and we have moved upmarket to The Sun.

• [Lucifer]

  what if cannabis seeds were tossed around everywhere and they grew out of control from forests, meadows, parks, highway medians?

• [wingbatwu]

  two problems to mass random seeding:

  bulk price of seeds

  “bulk quantities” not very bulky

• [padster123]

  My Mum used to sweep out the bird cage, and empty the stuff on the flower bed in our front garden. We lived near a young offenders institute (called a borstal in those days). Some mornings the young men would pass by our house, and laugh and point at the plants growing there. Yep – big fat dope plants. This would have been the early ’70′s.