rolledtootight. » Amsterdam

Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers

piff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:37:55 +0000

On Thursday, a Denver news station interviewed Chris Bartkowicz about his medical-marijuana operation in the basement of his home. Bartkowicz, confident of his compliance with state laws, boasted of its size and profitability.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," he told 9News.

The following day, the dream was over.

Drug-enforcement agents raided his home, placed him under arrest, and carried off dozens of black bags of marijuana plants and growing lights.

The Obama administration promised in October that the federal government would respect state laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana for medicinal use, but the Drug Enforcement Agency sent a loud message with the arrest of Bartkowicz.

That joint? It’s all in the name of research – LA Times reports from Amsterdam

piff — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:14:01 +0000

Reporting from Amsterdam - Franco bullwhips a 25-foot-long plastic bag through the air, snapping it behind him, sending the tail sailing over his head. The bag looks like a balloon-animal anaconda and he's the half-magician / half-matador who makes it dance. He's certainly got the crowd's attention. They watch as the plastic snake grows in length, slowly filling with smoky mist, the freshly vaporized essence of the 2008 and current Cannabis Cup winner, Super Lemon Haze.

Franco is one of the legendary Strain Hunters, an A-team of globe-trotting cannabis breeders who seek out rare landrace strains of marijuana. They've made expeditions to Malawi and India searching for pure plant genetics, marijuana strains unaffected by hybridization or cross-pollination. If it was a tomato, we'd call it heirloom.

When Franco swings the bag in my direction I don't refuse. Smoking a Cup winner with Franco is like playing catch with Manny Ramirez or kicking a soccer ball with David Beckham. It's an experience.

King of Cannabis: Founder of the Green House coffeeshops

piff — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:19:36 +0000

Arjan is the founder of the Green House Coffeeshops and Seed Company, the most successful cannabis business in the world. Winner of many international awards (32 High times Cannabis Cups, 17 Highlife Cups, and dozens of other awards), a true leader in cannabis genetics. The vision, passion and hard work of Arjan earned him the distinction of being the "King of Cannabis" but he does not rest on his laurels (so to speak), as he continues to search the planet to collect cannabis genetics and landraces with his longtime side-kick Franco and the team known as the Strain Hunters.

The price level of cannabis in Dutch coffeeshops: How and Why

piff — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:53:34 +0000

In the good old days a coffeeshop had its own group of growers/suppliers, which meant the coffeeshopowner had influence over the strains their growers produced, and we knew how the cannabis was grown. The prices were the same all over the Netherlands, just because there were no other takers in our line of business. Sure, some people would buy a kilo to take abroad, or even some more, but they bought from coffeeshops, not from the growers. There was a raise in prices during and after the holiday season, for two reasons: Growers take holidays too, when they do, they cannot grow, so they lose production time, like half a harvest. Another reason is the heat of summer, marihuana plants are pretty easy to grow, but when the temperature in a growroom goes above 27 degrees centigrade, the growth stuns.

Read the full article by Nol van Schaik here...

The Netherlands: Dealing a harder blow to cannabis crime

piff — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:31:37 +0000

"We're rolling back our policy of tolerance towards soft drugs which suggested that everything was allowed here. Well, it isn't." The Dutch decision to crack down on criminals involved in cannabis production is primarily a political decision, public prosecutor Kees van Spierenburg told Dutch media. "Politics is of course being fed by the call from the crime fighters, that this has become an important item in organised crime. We can't turn a blind eye to it."

Dutch police dismantle about 6000 illegal cannabis plantations per year, but the criminal gangs running them were left unaffected. Until now, the authorities limited themselves to tracking down and destroying the actual cannabis plantations. Individual cannabis growers were prosecuted. But it has become apparent that organised crime is also heavily involved in cannabis cultivation. Major criminals, who deal in hard drugs, weapons and human trafficking now also employ a whole network of cannabis growers. Ninety percent of the cannabis they produce is exported, and earns enormous amounts of money - 2.5 to 5 billions, according to the public prosecutor's office.

Police and justice officials intend to tackle soft drugs gangs just as rigorously as they do those distributing hard drugs. For decades such gangs were able to quietly earn millions of euros at minimal risk. Justice officials say they will try and seize this money, employing methods similar to those they use with hard drug dealers, such as undercover drug purchases, to arrest the criminals.