HYDROPONIC STORES SHOULD HELP US....UK POLICE

[postmandave]

HYDROPONIC STORE OWNERS SHOULD HELP US: POLICE
Many Customers Grow Vegetables: Shop Owner

Hydroponic stores should help police track down marijuana grow operations, a York Regional Police drug squad officer says.

If indoor growing supply shops tracked customer purchases and informed police of suspicious buys, it would make stopping large-scale marijuana operations easier, Det. Don Cardwell said.

"We just want them to co-operate with us," he said.

But just because a store sells hydroponics and indoor growing equipment, it doesn't mean it's supplying marijuana operations, Wendy Herbert of Markham Hydroponics said.

"A lot of our customers are vegetable growers concerned about pesticides and preservatives and those that want to grow their own vegetables year-round," Ms Herbert said. "They have jobs, they don't have time to set up massive marijuana grow operations or get involved with organized crime and we don't want to be involved in anything illegal either."

But police say hydroponics equipment stores help marijuana growers set up their operations.

Some of them advertise during pot friendly radio shows and, although they won't admit to police or the press, many of them will tell trusted customers all they need to know about growing weed indoors, Det. Cardwell said.

"Who is going to purchase all that expensive equipment just to grow tomatoes?" he asked.

"It just doesn't make sense. The tomatoes aren't worth the cost of electricity to run those lights. We know what they're up to."

Hydroponics is actually a soil-free system using nutrients and water to grow plants under lights indoors. While most marijuana grow operations use the same lighting systems, they use soil, not hydroponics.

Markham Hydroponics won't serve customers who admit they want to set up an illegal marijuana grow, Ms Herbert said. But they don't pry into their customers private business, either.

"We don't ask them what they are going to grow," Ms Herbert said. "It's not our business. If they say they want to grow marijuana, we won't give them the advice they need, but I think most large-scale grow operations are buying wholesale, not through stores like us."

The Home Depot sells high powered full spectrum lights, soil and a lot of the products marijuana growers need.

But they will not track purchases or inform police if they suspect someone is growing pot.

"If we are asked by police to co-operate with an investigation, we will," public relations manager Nick Cowling said. "Tracking fertilizer and light purchases and giving that information to police has some serious privacy issue implications. Also, we're not here to judge what people are doing with our products."

There are some hydroponics suppliers who do appeal to pot growers, Ms Herbert admits, but not Markham Hydroponics, which looks like a typical garden supply shop.

It doesn't sell marijuana seeds and has no hidden agenda, Ms Herbert said.

"We're trying to get away from that negative image," she said. "It gives us a dirty name."

postmandave Reviewed by postmandave on 05-01-2007. HYDROPONIC STORES SHOULD HELP US....UK POLICE HYDROPONIC STORE OWNERS SHOULD HELP US: POLICE Many Customers Grow Vegetables: Shop Owner Hydroponic stores should help police track down marijuana grow operations, a York Regional Police drug squad officer says. If indoor growing supply shops tracked customer purchases and informed police of suspicious buys, it would make stopping large-scale marijuana operations easier, Det. Don Cardwell said. "We just want them to co-operate with us," he said. But just because a store Rating: 5

[ZeldaG.]

"Who is going to purchase all that expensive equipment just to grow tomatoes?" he asked.

"It just doesn't make sense. The tomatoes aren't worth the cost of electricity to run those lights. We know what they're up to."

you know i thout that until i realised they actually do grow tomatos in hydrophonics setups :S

lol

"We're trying to get away from that negative image," she said. "It gives us a dirty name."

hahaha you know they will be losing customers

lol besides i know osme hydro shops thta sell seeds and such lol, i wonder what they would say to the police if asked to join, lmao!!

i bet it would be along the lines of: Get the hell out of my shop!! :cursing:

[onequickmove]

people don't really grow fucking tomatoes in hydro inside; ok, some do, but almost nobody; hydro shops exist to help folks grow weed, period

[fishman3811]

Weed shit ive been growing tomatoes all along fuck me.If any hydro shop were to help LEO in any way at all then that hydro shop owner can say goodbye to 99.9% of its customer base and who is stupid enough to go bankcrupt for the bloody government.These hydro shop owners know who is buttering their bread so to speak and to mess with that then thats just stupid.Word gets around the mj community and these shop owners know that.So hey if you want to lose your buisness then help LEO.

[postmandave]

At my local hydro store is on a saturday the traffic police sit round the corner and a fred that they tailed him till he left the area and he thought phew that was close as he had purchesed stuff that he couldnt cover anyway they pulled of him but when he got home 3 hours later his door came in and on the warrent was suspision of cannabis cultivatoin . so he beleaves that the police that tailed him checked the registratoin of his car got his address and passed it onto his locaL CID and they got a warrent and bust him now the said hydro store has set up a system that if the police are sitting in the area surrounding the shop they deliver for free and the hydro dude assured me that there is no way his delivery driver is followed as they use anti survalance technics. so just a heads up be safe the postman.
ps most tomato producers in the uk grow hydro its more cost efficient the size of those greenhouses its not cost effective to grow in soil so if you have a look they are full with massive hydro units / well all the flower and tomato producers in my area do

[onequickmove]

the sad thing for me is that i honestly avoid the hydro shop whenever possible; i think i may be more afraid going in there than even ordering off the internet; it's too bad, but i try to buy everything at home depot and the like if possible, so there's no worries

[Jah420]

ah why dont they just fuck off..

the pigs can fuck right off..

[fishman3811]

WOW im glad i live in Canada im constantly going to my hydro store at least 3-4 times a week.The cops in my city have better things to do than stake out a hydro store like go fight real crime.

[4x5]

Since when did "co-operation with police" become ratting out your paying customers?

[ZeldaG.]

WOW im glad i live in Canada im constantly going to my hydro store at least 3-4 times a week.The cops in my city have better things to do than stake out a hydro store like go fight real crime.

Yeah in UK it aint that bad most of the time, lol

in london we even have a hydro shop/ head shop/ etc market place,

we call it camden town.