risk vs reward

[pungent]

how do you guys think about legal issues of growing? in my state under 4 plants is a misdemeanor with minimum penalties, but they still seem pretty stiff -- A year of incarceration and $500. more than 5 plants on first offense is a felony -- 1 to 5 years and $1000 - $10000 in fines. i don't like being involved in the local black market which is the whole reason i'm growing. i'm not a seller, just a smoker and i'd like to be independant. i'm trying to decide if i should consider doing fewer riskier grows instead of more lower risk grows though. anyway, i'm just looking for feedback on how you folks think about those issues. perhaps the real risk isn't that great?

[LightBringer]

where I live laws are different... but still:

The way I see it , as long as its under 4 plants or whatever, its cool. Just dont start selling your stuff. if you produce the stuff with the purpose of making some bucks then the risk is high. too high for my taste. If you keep your operation small, your less likely to get caught as well as risking a smaller penality.

I am growing something like 4 plants and I just want to have enough for my own stash and thats it.

[toastybiz]

Growing is a legal risk, no doubt. And you could face severe consequences if caught, depending on circumstances and the state you are in. How to trade off the risk vs. reward is a personal decision that each of us has to make for ourselves. So only you can answer your question.

It is important to truly understand the risk -- not the penalties, but the risk of being caught. How stealthy is your grow? What are the chances someone else could discover it? Who will know about it (answer should be "no one, not even ____").

If you have a private setting on private property that you own, don't deal, don't let others see/hear/smell it, and keep your lips shut then you are keeping the risk to a minimum.

[pungent]

those sound like good things to consider and exactly the kind of advice i was looking for. thanks

[mordgrow]

FYI, i got about 2lbs outta 4 plants recently.. 1st grow so i didtn know what the hell i was doing..

more than enough to keep me fat and happy for a long time!


just dont tell ANYONE.. N O O N E what your doing..

two people know about my operation and one of them is me, and the other one is my woman (see the avitar).

[Hank Scorpio]

word. u gotta keep it on the real d/l. i dont talk about it no more even on here. as long as u pay the hydro bill and ur other bills, and have a visible income your perfectly fine. ppl dont realize the money involved with growing. but as long as its secret u got nothin to worry about. dont get paranoid when cops watch you. eventually somebody might rat on your grow if they find out. cops will watch your property for a day or 2 and if everything looks normal they wont suspect anything. then next time somebody rats they wont take it as seriously bc they didnt see any signs of it earlier. remember, the cops need a reason to search your home. dont give them one. smoke in public, everybody does, but don't ever talk about it. and dont bring in growing equipment in plain sight. put it in garbage bags at least.

everybody gets excited and talks about it sometimes, but really try not to. the wrong person might hear that ur growing and they will find out where you live and break in. then the cops can get involved and u can get caught.

a lot of ppl go to jail for growing bc they can't keep it secret. here in canada, and in some states you can grow legally if you get it aprooved by the government. they will check on it and do inspections. do your homework and know what you will go to jail for if you get caught. and try and stay a step ahead of the cops.

[geetardude]

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

word. u gotta keep it on the real d/l. i dont talk about it no more even on here. as long as u pay the hydro bill and ur other bills, and have a visible income your perfectly fine. ppl dont realize the money involved with growing. but as long as its secret u got nothin to worry about. dont get paranoid when cops watch you. eventually somebody might rat on your grow if they find out. cops will watch your property for a day or 2 and if everything looks normal they wont suspect anything. then next time somebody rats they wont take it as seriously bc they didnt see any signs of it earlier. remember, the cops need a reason to search your home. dont give them one. smoke in public, everybody does, but don't ever talk about it. and dont bring in growing equipment in plain sight. put it in garbage bags at least.

everybody gets excited and talks about it sometimes, but really try not to. the wrong person might hear that ur growing and they will find out where you live and break in. then the cops can get involved and u can get caught.

a lot of ppl go to jail for growing bc they can't keep it secret. here in canada, and in some states you can grow legally if you get it aprooved by the government. they will check on it and do inspections. do your homework and know what you will go to jail for if you get caught. and try and stay a step ahead of the cops.

Sorry, but I disagree on a few things. Yes, keep it on the ABSOLUTE D/L. If you're getting ratted on for growing, you've obviously already fucked up, and should just tear down and lay low for at least 6 months, IMO. Having legitimate income is indeed key. As for cops even beginning to watch you, you SHOULD be paranoid, because they're watching you for a fucking reason.

I DON'T recommend this personally, but I had ALL my growing equipment mailed to my house in plain packages, it's fucking mail in everybody else's eyes. Just dont be an idiot and have it ALL mailed in the same fucking week or anything. I had it done periodically, over a period of 3 months. As for smoking in public, because everyone does anyway? Bad Idea, man. You smoke in public, you get busted.. then you get put on probation, and have an officer come to your house periodically.. obviously NO grow should be happening then.

As for the States and growing "legally", I dont live in a state that has Medical Marijuana, but I'm hearing about ALL KINDS of busts being done in california on Medical growers. These are small grows, too. The only "inspections" being done legal or not, are fucking raids done by the DEA. Yes, they do put medical growers in jail too, MMJ card, or not.

Just tell NO ONE, and you're alright.

[20fan]

Keep it small. Keep your mouth shut. Tell nobody. Not even your best friend, favorite cousin, etc. They slip and tell 1 person and before you know it, the wrong person has found out. They may want to narc or try and steal it. We just had a grow op busted a few months ago. 80 plants. A friend of a friend found out about the operation and tried to break in. Cops got involved. Bad news.


You will be fine if you are the only person that knows. If 4 plants or less is a misdemeanor, then only do 3. Cops are not going to be too concerned with that. They are more interested in the guys growing 50 - 100 plants. Plus, I am sure the $500 and 1 year in jail has "Up To" in front of it. 1st offense, you are more than likely looking at probation and a fine.

[pungent]

I haven't told a single soul. I live in a town house that I rent though, so I don't own the property. I mail ordered most of my stuff, but I mail order lots of stuff anyway and have a legitimate job/income and my spending habits haven't changed noticeably as a result of the grow. I'm using fluorescents so my bills haven't changed much either...

However, my younger brother lives with me who does not know and would not approve. Plus I have a recent ex girlfriend who knew I smoked and knew I was considering growing. Now she's dating a cop...

Anyway, I think I'll finish out the grow I started. I just changed the light cycle to 12/12 this week. Then I think I'll tear down and lay low and work on getting a place that I own where I live by myself. I feel like I'm pretty safe now, but not as safe as I want to be.

[toastybiz]

Originally Posted by 20fan

Keep it small. Keep your mouth shut. Tell nobody. Not even your best friend, favorite cousin, etc.

And especially a girlfriend. Very common way to get busted is an ex-girlfriends rats you out for some kind of relationship revenge.

[tfunkadelic]

Originally Posted by mordgrow

FYI, i got about 2lbs outta 4 plants recently.. 1st grow so i didtn know what the hell i was doing..

more than enough to keep me fat and happy for a long time!


just dont tell ANYONE.. N O O N E what your doing..

two people know about my operation and one of them is me, and the other one is my woman (see the avitar).

Your girl's probably one of the last people you want to tell about something like this.