How Do I Seal Loose Lips?

I'm about to move to a very pot friendly city in MI and start growing. I'm moving in with a high school friend of mine who has been growing for close to a year now. I taught him most of what he knows about weed, glass and even a little bit of supply/demand. The first thing I taught him was that loose lips sink ships. I should know... I was arrested on two felony counts of trafficking and sat in jail for 11 days awaiting 50 grand of bail.

Since that time he's taken up the practice of showing pretty much every person that comes in the apt his grow op. This is a serious problem. He invites lots of people over to smoke and never fails to walk them into his op. He's proud of what he's doing and I can't blame him for that. It's much better than most of the available sinsemilla in the area. We're getting medical cards down the line but for now our gardens will remain illegal. To me that means we should be the only two people that know about it but that is impossible at this point.

I've talked to him about it... but his problem is that he trusts too many people. He doesn't see how easy it would be for someone to out him to the cops on a whim. He also doesn't consider the fact that people talk and showing a few people is like telling a hundred. The city is pretty lax on possession but not as lax on manufacture... obviously. The cops won't go out of their way to bring you down... but they will respond to tips when a large bust is certain. Even with the chill cops, we have to fear rippers. This wouldn't be the hardest apt to break in to. I am honestly more afraid of losing everything I've worked for than the cops. It is the more likely scenario that someone will break in and steal the plants near harvest... since he also has no problem telling anyone when his plants will be ready.

At this point, I cannot reverse my decision to move in. My job is transferred and the sublease is locked in. I have to shut him up and convince him that stealth is best. How can I do this without having to scare him into it? I don't want to give him a false alarm because he would probably be pretty upset... but he needs the fear of God in his heart to get him to understand how serious this really is. Paranoia is a survival tool in this game... I want him afraid of every passerby, cocked open blind and faraway siren.... like I am. Any creative ideas?

 

I like the video ideas so far. I recently watched a few scenes of "Largest Street Gang in America." I wish I could do photoshop... put some pictures of his face on there. I'll definitely be letting him watch more of the police abuse videos that I watch on the regular. Keeps me grounded.

Telling him to stop growing really isn't something I can do. It wouldn't work anyway. I'm the newcomer here... that's the difficulty. Although I've been researching and planning this for a lot longer, he's actually been doing it. I may know more but given that I'm only a tad older there is no hierarchy relationship. We're in this together for better or worse as equals.

We are moving locations after this summer though and we don't have time before then to do another cycle. These plants that just started blooming are going to be our last that finish in the apt. I don't think I'll have this problem when we move because more will be in my control. I could lock our room myself if I wanted. Currently the op is in his bedroom... so it's all in his control. I'm not going to start until we move... for sure.

 

Well... I'm a felon so there will be no firearms in any dwelling I live in. I'm not concerned about recourse for rippers. I have connections to take care of anything like that at the drop of a dime. The actual loss of the plants is what I fear or the arrest of my friend. I don't fear my own arrest. The city attorney doesn't bootstrap charges on roommates like some others do.... like "maintaining a drug house" or "permitting drug abuse". If I'm not growing too, I'd be fine. I don't plan to start until I can have more control over the situation.

I'm not worried about myself here really. I'm more worried about him. This is a pretty small window we're talking about here too... because he can go get his card at any time and 20 days later be legal. So I might have overblown the risk of arrest, especially since the cops here are not known to respond to tips about small ops. They do not have the manpower.

So basically I'm in this. How do I make it better?

 

I know it's not a no risk situation. Just saying it's different than what most people are used to. It's safe to say that I am in the best city in Michigan as far as leniency for pot.

I need ideas here though. I'm not willing to just give up. If I did that things will continue on and I will have to watch as another life is wrecked for nothing. I wouldn't wish what happened to me on anyone. Someone else must have been in this situation before. I need damage control.

 

That kind of shit wouldn't happen to us in quite that way... but I'd certainly be willing to tell him it could. He knows some things about me that protect us.. it would be a lot easier if he didn't know we were well protected. I'm sure he feels safer knowing what he does and that doesn't help. Once he called me up thinking he might get blackmailed, but confident that I could get it resolved. I could but his instinct should have been fear and self-preservation... not immediate preemptive action.

I'll probably show him some bump key videos today and then show him my set. They wouldn't even have to break in... we have a conventional pin lock. I could bump it in ten seconds... lol.... a child could. We'd lose time and effort. That's what I fear of rippers... and we'd have to move.

Yeah... I was wearing shorts when I got popped and immediately was freezing even still in my room. Even without cold air there is something about a detrimental life change that makes you feel cold all over.

That's a good idea though. We can't cut and run altogether... some of this is for some unofficial patients... but he could move everything during a night and maybe shift the times of the dark cycles. I don't know how much it would stress the plants but having the lights and fans off during times people are here would allow us to claim they were gone.

More ideas guys! I'm in what most would consider to be a worst case scenario and I really need to shape things for the better in every way possible. At this point in my life, I've made the decision to live or die for something and if this ends up being 'it' so be it. I'm willing to risk my shit to make sure he doesn't go down and I need all the suggestions I can get.

Besides there is always a need for a legal test for new laws. There are several new medical marijuana affirmative defense in MI that have not yet been tested. His outlook would not be as bleak as it might seem in this state... but I want to prevent the necessity of that consideration altogether.

Edit: Had a short talk w/ him before he left for work. The look on his face told me that something is dawning on him. I don't know what it is but I hope it's a good thing. I might have laid it on a bit thick but he needs to be afraid.

Talked a bit about how unfun the whole being arrested process is. The looks on your friends or family's faces as they lead you out in cuffs looking triumphant as you hang your head. The dehumanizing experience of having every cavity searched and being required to shower nude while they watch you. The discomfort of lying nude under a stiff anti-suicide vest. The constant posturing and aggressive vigilant attitude you have to take on to protect yourself and your things.

I think I made the possibility of arrest real to him... I hope I did.