i remember reading on this site about a dude in Florida who was raided by the fbi shortly after the nsa wiretap program was instilled.

they had no warrant, so that didnt help, but the evidence they used to target him was all observed online, when they raided him they even had printouts of things he said on this very website!!!!

anyway everything was thrown out because a very forward thinking federal judge said "just because its super easy for you guys to catch weed growers now because of the NSA wiretaps, doesn't mean you can pick off easy NON-TERRORIST targets without getting warrants."

the dude ended up getting like 60,000 bucks from the state because they raided illegally.

this case is what keeps the cops from kicking down the door of anyone who purchases grow equipment online or talks about growing weed on sites like these in a post 9/11 America. its not terrorism, and thus the wiretap program and the patriot act do not apply, you still need a good old fashioned warrant.

the song remains the same, grow equipment is legal, purchasing it is not enough to warrant an investigation.

the reason why they tell you not to purchase online or with credit cards is because it can INSTIGATE SUSPICION. it goes like this:

nsa goon observes you purchasing 15,000 dollars of equipment from hydrohut.com from the comfort of his terminal at the 1984 headquarters. he calls up your local police and says "watch this dude, hes probably growing weed". local police start observing you, laws regarding warrants to observe someone vary by state.
pay attention, this is the part where the cops show their true colors regarding "the law"; we'll assume you are a flawless grower, you liquefy all your trimmings and stalks, absolutely no one knows about your grow, you run the tightest ship there is and the cops cant gather hard enough evidence to raid. the cops realize that you have them 100% beat, the 4th amendment is a bitch. cops get furious that you are going to get away with growing weed in their tight little community for the rest of your life.
good cop calls it quits, ends the investigation and realizes that because you are so responsible with your grow you probably deserve not to be bothered anyway. bad cop gets a crack head to admit purchasing weed at your place and they raid on false testimony and the judge full-on knows what the fuck happened but decides busting a grower is better than making his police follow the law, because the judge also knows that you would have gotten away with growing weed forever unless they bent the rules.

the cops aren't going to waste time cause some dude purchased one light or one tray, they start poking around when they see huge transactions.

i have heard about a dude who was observed purchasing grow medium at a hydro store, the cops followed him back, and later raided his house. im not sure how they got the evidence to raid, but if it was just the grow medium thats not enough and he probably got it tossed.

if you live in an area where the cops are dicks to stoner's then be super careful, even if purchasing at hydro stores with cash. the same goes for in person as online, if the cops observe you loading thousands of dollars of equipment into your truck in front of the hydro store thats going to make them follow you.

if you live in an area where the cops bust growers like this then purchasing online might actually be a safer bet. use prepaid credit cards and have the name not match yours.

the world of retail hydroponic supply's and use has a very fine line separating it from being illegal, and both the people who purchase the equipment and the cops who try to catch them cross the line often.