Pubdate: Mon, 27 May 2013
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2013 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Kris Turner, Block News Alliance
Page: A1

POT TRADE BLOSSOMS IN HEARTLAND

Medical Growers Part of Emergence

First of Two Parts

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - John Evans' two-story rental is indistinguishable
from the homes that line the streets of his suburb near Ann Arbor.

The manicured lawns and neatly arranged flower beds blend together,
portraying an idealistic middle-class life. Mr. Evans, 46, moved from
Colorado to Michigan two years ago to take advantage of the state's
fledgling medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 2008.

Largely independent of government inspection, medical marijuana
growers such as Mr. Evans are part of an industry that's emerging from
the underground and entering the mainstream.

The marijuana trade is blossoming throughout Michigan, Ohio and the
Midwest through legal and illegal operations. The cultivation of
highly potent marijuana, shifting black-market demands, and a growing
acceptance of the drug all play a part in its entry into the limelight.

"I just had to move to Michigan," said Mr. Evans, who suffers from
chronic pain. "I established residency and I took my medical records
and my documentation from Colorado. I was previously recommended for
medical marijuana by three different doctors in Colorado. With
approval from a certified doctor and pain specialist in Ann Arbor, I
filled out the paperwork, and months later I did receive my card from
the state. It really wasn't that difficult."

Mr. Evans did not meet residency requirements under Colorado's medical
marijuana law, so he moved to Michigan.

The proponents of Michigan's medical marijuana law hoped people like
Mr. Evans would normalize the drug in the eyes of the public. The
state was a critical win for advocates, said Tim Beck, an activist who
pioneered the effort to put the law on the November 2008 ballot.

Michigan provides the foothold to spread medical marijuana through the
Midwest and opened the door for decriminalization and legalization
efforts, Mr. Beck said.

"We want to create a critical mass for legalization nationwide," said
Mr. Beck, who has been dubbed the godfather of marijuana in Michigan.
"Critics of marijuana reform would point to the West Coast as being a
different part of the country. Michigan kind of gives the mom and
apple pie ... image to it.

"It isn't just a West Coast phenomenon. People in the heartland
believe this, too."

There are movements in Ohio and Illinois to legalize medical
marijuana, and a bill has been introduced in the Michigan Legislature
to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. In Ohio, possessing less
than 100 grams of marijuana for personal use is a minor misdemeanor
and carries a $150 fine.

Marijuana use has been legalized in Colorado and Washington, and 18
states and the District of Columbia have approved medical marijuana.
The drug is illegal under federal law and people in states that have
legalized marijuana or medical cannabis still can be prosecuted for
growing, possessing or distributing it.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Beck is one of the people backing the
decriminalization bill in the Michigan Legislature. "Absolutely,
legalization is the goal. There is no denying that, but you have got
to take it one step at a time," he said. "The polling numbers were
much more favorable for medical marijuana than legalization."

Growing operation

The first floor of Mr. Evans' home is sparsely decorated, and the
house seems too large for him and his bull mastiff. The empty rooms,
however, provide the perfect space to run a marijuana-growing operation.

Using about $5,000 in supplies purchased from hardware stores and
gardening shops, Mr. Evans transformed his basement into a makeshift
greenhouse. He built two grow rooms lined with white plastic sheeting.
Both routinely are sterilized so the marijuana remains free of mold
and bugs. Ventilation ducts that regulate humidity and temperature
loop from room to room.

In mid-April, plants 3 to 4 feet tall sat in one room illuminated by
bright white lights. The other room - outfitted with red and blue LED
lights to simulate sunshine found near the equator - was empty because
Mr. Evans harvested its crop a week earlier.

Those plants were cut and left to dry in a closet upstairs.

Mr. Evans' marijuana is highly valued because it contains almost no
THC and is rich with CBD, a chemical compound that has been shown to
relieve pain and curb seizures and convulsions. CBD users can smoke or
ingest the marijuana without feeling stoned, he said.

In Michigan, doctors must approve patients to receive medical
marijuana, but they do not write prescriptions for the substance.

The marijuana Mr. Evans grows for his own use can net him more than
$20,000 a year. He sells his excess product to dispensaries around
southern Michigan and sometimes provides marijuana to patients who
name him as their caregiver.

"From a recreational perspective, like what your casual user would
feel, I would say it's like espresso; it is more a stimulant. It tends
to perk up your thought process as opposed to the usual stoner
effect," Mr. Evans said. "It also works as a dietary suppressant, the
reverse munchy effect. It's kind of the reverse, anti-pot."

Marijuana is Mr. Evans' bread and butter. The U.S. Navy veteran's grow
operation is his primary income.

Stronger weed

Growers in Michigan can produce up to 72 plants at a time if they
provide for themselves and an additional five patients - state law
allots 12 plants per person. Those harvests can yield a crop that's
worth more than $100,000.

Marijuana is abundant in Michigan, with 124,131 registered patients
and 50,188 marijuana growers registered with the state last year.
Users and growers exist in every county and are spread among cities,
suburbs and rural areas. Michigan counties with the most growers
include Wayne, Oakland and Macomb.

Although the illegal marijuana trade has existed for decades,
marijuana cultivation has been transformed in the past 10 years. The
most significant shift has been the cultivation of extremely potent
weed that can get a user high with a few puffs.

Growers - thanks to advances in technology and plant science - are
able to increase levels of THC, CBD and other cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids are the chemical compounds in marijuana that react with
the body.

In the medical marijuana industry, different cannabinoids are used to
ease the suffering associated with chronic medical conditions. The
Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California,
San Diego, has found that marijuana can temper symptoms of people with
HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis. The center is one of the few places
in the United States approved to conduct marijuana research.

On the black market, designer marijuana is popular for its purity. It
carries street prices that are at least two times that of regular
marijuana, going for about $3,500 a pound in Toledo. It can reach a
price that's three to five times higher than regular-grade weed.

The more costly marijuana is often cultivated in indoor hydroponic, or
water-based, operations instead of soil.

"A lot of times it's not the same marijuana your parents or
grandparents were smoking back in the day. A lot of it is much
stronger," Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said.

Rise of hydroponics

Joshua Bennett's head hung low as he was escorted by Toledo police out
of 3034 S. Byrne Road on April 12. The handcuffed 28-year-old was
somber as Toledo narcotics and SWAT officers loaded the home's grow
operation into their vehicles.

The officers, many of whom wore ski masks to protect their identities,
darted in and out of the rundown duplex as a SWAT vehicle idled on the
street. The scent of marijuana wafted from the open front door.
Parents peered from their car windows as they shuttled their children
home in the quiet South Toledo neighborhood.

The bust turned up 65 hydroponic marijuana plants, seven pounds of
processed weed and an SKS assault rifle. Mr. Bennett, whose case is
scheduled to go before a grand jury, refused to comment for this story.

Valued at $115,800, the seizure is one of the larger home grows Toldeo
police have come across, Sgt. Heffernan said.

"I would say the transition to hydroponic was kind of slow and steady,
and I don't think there was a watershed event that was the force," he
said. "It was gradual to where it's the preferred source of marijuana
for most users, especially the people that are growing it."

Dealers can make more money with hydroponic marijuana, and it
satisfies a demand that continues to grow.

It is such a lucrative business that Toledo police began tracking
hydroponic seizures in 2010. The department seized 256,577 grams of
hydroponic marijuana since it began recording those statistics. That's
about 9,050 ounces of high-grade pot, or 566 pounds, which accounts
for about 30 percent of the marijuana taken by police in that period.

Sold on the street, the hydroponic marijuana seized by police in
Toledo over the period could fetch more than $2 million, definitely a
cash crop. The seized drugs were destroyed in an industrial
incinerator.

The Drug Enforcement Administration doesn't track whether its
marijuana seizures are hydroponic or if they're considered medical
cannabis. The federal government doesn't recognize medical marijuana
and doesn't make distinctions on why marijuana is being grown, said
Rich Isaacson, a spokesman and special agent for the DEA.

The DEA, however, does track eradication efforts for each
state.

According to those statistics, home-grow seizures increased by an
average of about 20 in Michigan and two in Ohio year over year from
2003 to 2011. The average number of indoor plants eradicated each year
by the DEA was 10,931 in Michigan and 11,236 in Ohio. About 100,000
indoor marijuana plants were seized by the DEA in each state during
that period.

Outdoor marijuana grows, however, showed a converse trend between the
two states. The average year-over-year change for outdoor operations
was an increase of about 64 in Michigan and a decrease of 44 in Ohio.
About 290,000 plants were eradicated in Michigan and 395,000 were
destroyed in Ohio during that time.

The problem extends far beyond the marijuana grow operations, Mr.
Isaacson said. The DEA's focus is on large-scale marijuana operations,
he said.

"You've got the [British Columbia] bud coming in from Canada, you've
got a lot of the grows that are happening right here in Michigan in
people's backyards and basements, but a lot of the drug activity here
is coming from the cartels in Mexico," Mr. Isaacson said. "You've got
a three-pronged approach to marijuana distribution in our region."

Much of the high-grade marijuana on Toledo's streets comes from out of
state, Sgt. Heffernan said. The police conduct routine inspections
with drug-sniffing dogs to intercept packages that contain marijuana
and other illegal drugs. More than 90 percent of the seized packages
contain marijuana. Police confiscated 58 parcels last year and have
found 38 so far this year.

Determining where the high-grade marijuana comes from can be
difficult, if not impossible. And even in a state like Michigan,
there's no way to tell how many medical marijuana plants are growing,
have been grown, or if it's being funneled to patients or to the
illegal drug trade.

Michigan law contains a clause that bars state inspections of medical
marijuana. It was designed that way to protect the rights of patients,
advocates said. According to the law, a patient can possess up to 2.5
ounces of marijuana - or a reasonable amount to manage his medical
condition - and up to 12 plants.

A September 2011 report from the now-defunct National Drug
Intelligence Center stated that "some of the increase in marijuana
availability and cultivation ... is likely the result of criminals
exploiting Michigan's medical marijuana law."

"One person can have 12 plants. If they do it right, that'll yield 12
pounds of marijuana in a year," said Michigan State Police Detective
Lt. Dave Cook. "They're selling to anybody that's got money to give."

Increasing support

Mr. Beck considered giving up marijuana when his daughter was a
toddler. Smoking it a few times a week could have had dire
consequences, possibly resulting in a loss of custody.

"I took my first hit of a marijuana cigarette in my dorm room at the
University of Detroit in 1970. I liked it and I didn't see any reason
to quit except when my daughter got to be about 3 years old," said Mr.
Beck, who has his medical marijuana card and lives in Detroit, where
the drug is decriminalized. "I got to thinking that maybe I should
quit and go into the closet and set a good example, and I thought long
and hard about it, and I just said, 'No, I'm going to be real about
it.' She probably smelled marijuana smoke every month of her life."

The decision isn't uncommon among baby boomers, Mr. Beck said. Reefer
madness hysteria is dying with the elderly.

"A fair amount of the baby boomer population - not everybody - a lot
of those parents use marijuana," he said. "Kids are born, they get
older, and they learn from parents that some parents just don't quit
smoking marijuana."

According to a Pew Research Center study published in April, 52
percent of Americans favor marijuana legalization. It is the first
time in four decades that a majority has favored the issue. It's a
stark contrast to the 12 percent of people who favored legalization in
1969.

The study shows that support for legalization increases with each
generation: the elderly (32 percent); baby boomers (50 percent);
Generation X (54 percent); and Millennials (65 percent). Of people
polled, 72 percent agreed enforcing marijuana laws costs more than it
is worth.

Mr. Beck, a retired insurance executive and former Republican, said
the conversation has been shifting toward legalization for some time.
It's only natural as more people see marijuana used as a medicine and
in their communities, he added.

Protecting kids

That mind-set is dangerous, especially for teenagers, who assume that
marijuana is legal in Michigan, said Charlene McGunn, executive
director of the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth & Families. The
coalition is promoting "Mobilizing Michigan - Protecting Our Kids from
Marijuana Campaign" to educate people about the dangers of youth
marijuana use.

Studies have shown that marijuana affects teenage brains more
drastically than that of an adult. Ms. McGunn also said heavy
marijuana use leads to poor performance in school and substance abuse
issues later in life.

"A year ago, we conducted focus groups of about 250 high school
students, and we also administered a state survey. The results were
alarming," she said. "Kids now see, at least in Michigan, marijuana as
safer than tobacco. They told us in focus groups there is nothing
wrong with using marijuana because it is medicine, it's a plant."

There's no denying that marijuana is everywhere. Law enforcement,
marijuana advocates and staunch opponents of the drug agree that
access to marijuana is universal. With the help of advocates, it only
will continue its journey into the mainstream, Mr. Beck said.

"It permeates everywhere. It's not any one demographic or cohort. It's
something people like to do, and they've been doing it for a long,
long time," he said.

"It's just a fact of life."
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