Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 Source: Daily Record (UK) Copyright: 2007 Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd. Contact: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/111 Author: Laura Coventry Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom) HASH FARM GEAR WILL HELP FEED AFRICA Charity To Send UKP200,000 Haul STACKED high in a secret location lies a haul of equipment seized from multimillion-pound cannabis farms. But in the next week, the heating, lighting and plant cultivation equipment will be heading to farms, schools and hospitals in Malawi. And the Daily Record has had exclusive access to see the UKP200,000-worth of fans, lights, ventilators, tubing, filters, pumps, hoses, cables, plant pots and trays seized by Strathclyde Police. Their director of intelligence, Detective Chief Superintendent Stephen Whitelock, thought it would be a shame to see the equipment thrown on a tip. So he called staff at Glasgow the Caring City charity. Now it will help thousands of people in Africa. The Reverend Neil Galbraith, who runs the Cultivation to Cultivation project, has suffered a few jokes but it will really change lives in Africa. He said: "This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. "I have been laughed at when I told people about it. And, because of what it is, we cannot let anybody know where it is stored - the crooks want it all back. "We had to sanitise a lot of it because it was covered in cannabis dust." Some of the first people to benefit will be mums and babies at Bottom Hospital in Lilongue, Malawi, who will be cooled by huge new fans. Fans and lighting will also go to classrooms, which will soon have furniture given by South Lanarkshire Colleges. The equipment will help thousands of people, say World Emergency Relief, who assist the Glasgow charity. Operations director Alex Haxton said: "They will be able to grow better crops, new crops, food for day-today living and sell the surplus at local markets. It could change their lives." Farm adviser Francisco Naude said: "These farmers and their families will benefit tremendously." And the good news is - there is more on the way from cannabis farm raids. FOR more info, visit glasgowthecaringcity.com or wer-uk.org - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman