Barry Cooper's advice on buying growing supplies in Never Get Raided

[MysticMan84]

I'm wondering how many people who grow actually follow his advice & do things such as use public computers to order with rather than their own, use gift credit cards to order with (this seems like a good idea), have their supplies sent to someone else's house & lie to them telling them it's a gift for someone, keep anything marijuana related such as t-shirts with pot leaves on them out of their house (what does it matter if there's already weed in the house?), etc. Here's a summary of his advice that someone somewhere else wrote out:

Procuring Grow Equipment Safely:
Never, ever use your own computer to purchase anything incriminating. Use a public computer instead.
Pay using a gift credit card (impossible to trace back to you).
Have the equipment shipped to a safe address. He advises against using a fake ID to procure it since using a fake ID is a felony. He advises shipping it to a friend or relative using the excuse that it is a surprise gift for your significant other and you don’t want them seeing it.
You can also buy directly from a store using cash. Borrow a car to drive there (you won’t be jeopardizing someone who doesn’t grow). He also shows you how to avoid a tail. Fast stops, acting like you’re turning around, pull over and sit for awhile. Turn around and go the opposite direction and look in your rearview mirror for brake lights or if any cars are turning off or turning around to follow you. He recommends using these methods going to and from the shop. When you get to the grow store, drive around the parking lot looking for suspiciously parked vehicles or people watching the store (especially in rearview mirrors). Leave the grow store in the opposite direction and take the grow equipment somewhere else for a week or so and then go retrieve it.
He then gets into controlling odor. The ONLY safe way that really works is pumping the air from your grow room into a carbon filter. Although for small gardens, air ionizers can also work.
Controlling trash is controlling evidence. Trash can be picked up and used as evidence without a warrant. Fertilizer containers, grow equipment boxes and notes taken regarding the grow are all examples of things to get off your property and into a dumpster. Same thing goes for harvest cuttings (stems and leaves, etc..) - get it off your property!
Do not display or possess marijuana trinkets (like marijuana t-shirts, posters, etc..).

Some of his advice seems to have a paranoid tone to it. Like the way he's frantically like "Get that stuff off your property!" concerning marijuana trinkets & fertilizer containers & such. It being on your property is no more dangerous than growing on your property but perhaps keeping it out of your garbage is a good idea.

[mad4reef]

Like you said, seems a bit paranoid. Especially the part about watching for people tailing your car. But hey, whatever works for him. I think a little paranoia is good for growers.

[Bank404]

A little over the top but sounds like he wants no kind of trace towards him at all.

[mad4reef]

Yeah, I would say the guy who wrote the book is a commercial grower. So, in that instance he is probably taking the necessary precautions. However, for us small scale growers it does seem over the top.

[MysticMan84]

I'm particularly wondering about the part about purchasing supplies. If the government tracks that stuff like grow light purchases & what not. Or if it's just paranoia. I'd rather get it shipped to my own house then burden someone else with it. Plus I'm not going to lie to them & say it's something else like he recommends so that would mean telling that person about my growing. Using a public computer to order from seems like a good idea but I'm not sure if I have any close-by. Possibly at a library. Using a gift credit card seems like a good idea, that way at least it's not in your banking info. Someone once said that it's also good to use a fake name when ordering seeds. Ordering seeds seems like the riskiest thing since it's illegal. He doesn't cover it in the video for some reason. I have a decent amount of seeds from a couple bags of good herb so I'm just going to use that & if successful possibly not ever order them.

[Bank404]

The gift card is a great idea.

The gov't doesn't track the UPS packages unless they got weed in them and the UPS reports them.
He's just paranoid on that note. the grow-sites have strict privacy policies bruh.

That shit is legal so the gov't can't kick your door down for ordering legal shit anyway.

I actually have a good guide on seeds bruh, check out the sticky in seedbanks by me.

EDIT; here it is
http://forum.grasscity.com/seed-bank...ds-safely.html

[MysticMan84]

Cool, thanks for the responses. There's a lot about these dvds on the internet talking about how good of a thing it is that he made them but not a lot of actual reviews on the advice he gives & whether each recomendation is sound or not.

[mad4reef]

Never seen the DVDs in questions. So I can't really tell you if they are worth it or not. However, from my experience most of those videos are for commercial crops (ie. profiting from your grow). Therefore, some of the information is just not useful to the homegrower. Just my 2 cents.

[Bank404]

You can get most of the knowledge not to get caught from common sense and a lil bit of reading like you've already been doing.

[OldSkool1010]

Considering he is a veteran LEO and during his career worked with the DEA I'd say he knows what the fuzz look for and use to bust folks.

It isn't paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Remember so far America still has constitutional protections.
http://www.flexyourrights.org/index.php

[noober]

The climate has changed considerably since his time as a LEO, especially in MMJ states.

[MysticMan84]

Originally Posted by OldSkool1010

Considering he is a veteran LEO and during his career worked with the DEA I'd say he knows what the fuzz look for and use to bust folks.

It isn't paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Remember so far America still has constitutional protections.
http://www.flexyourrights.org/index.php

Yeah but I'm wondering if all his advice comes from first hand experience. Like he says not to order supplies using your own computer & to use a gift credit card rather than your account, I wonder if he's ever actually been tipped off to a grow up by a tracking system of who orders growing supplies off of the internet, or if he just thinks it's a good suggestion. Know what I mean. Maybe I should try to contact him.

[OldSkool1010]

I may be paranoid but I'm a little suspect of a former cop turned smokers/growers friend. How do we know he's not telling stuff that the fuzz want us to do to help them bust us? Of course you've got to give up some legit advice to gain confidence ...the gift card trick is a good idea to break the credit card paper trail. but in one of his videos he suggests to consent to LEO search requests...at least that's what I've read.


http://www.flexyourrights.org/cooperaddendum

[zpyro]

The cops can't raid you simply because you own growing supplies. Growing supplies are legal, and if a cop thinks he can trespass on your property and illegally search and seize stuff, he's 100% wrong. You need a warrant to search anything not in plain sight, so unless you're keeping your plants in your bedroom window, don't trip on buying growing supplies

Getting raided because you were "caught" buying growing supplies is like being raided because you were "caught" buying a gun. Sure, the stuff can be used illegally, but ownership of legal products, regardless of how they can be used, does not form any kind of basis for a raid or search warrant. Buy your lights and pots however you want, save the paranoia for the stuff you do that is actually illegal

[zpyro]

Originally Posted by OldSkool1010

Considering he is a veteran LEO and during his career worked with the DEA I'd say he knows what the fuzz look for and use to bust folks.

It isn't paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Remember so far America still has constitutional protections.
http://www.flexyourrights.org/index.php

If they aren't really out to get you, it's JUST paranoia

And if you're at all savvy on current news, the Constitutional rights we think we have are not absolute. Everything "depends." You don't have 100% freedom of speech; if you try to incite a dangerous situation, you can be prevented from speaking or arrested/fined/whatever. You can't yell "FIRE!" in a crowded place like a movie theater and get away with it (considering there's no fire). That's just one example; basically, there is no absolute guaranteed right.

I'm still not sure what "protections" you're referring to. Maybe illegal search and seizure? Even then, there are still ways around it. In the end, the cops/govt can fuck you over any way they please. Cops can lie under oath (they do it all the time just like everyone else, I don't believe for a second that just because a person is a LEO they tell the truth all the time, or even most of the time), evidence can be planted, etc. Unless you've got one hell of a lawyer, you can still get fucked over.

That being said, being paranoid that the DEA is chasing you while you drive home from wherever you buy your hardware is just wasted energy. Nobody is tailing you home because you bought some grow lights. If you bought 30 of them and a "How to grow pot with 30 grow lights" book is sitting on your passenger seat, quit worrying. Keep your grow stealthy, don't tell people who don't need to know, keep your grow secure and you should be fine.