$48,000 Of Hydroponically-Grown Marijuana
A man appeared in Magistrates’ Court this morning [Jan 5] charged with being in possession of hydroponically-grown marijuana intended for supply. Joshua Holder, 32, was also charged with being in possession of a digital scale intended for use with an illegal drug. Police estimated the drugs had a street value of more than $48,000.
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And if the price of the drugs rises (not just due to this, obviously), so does crime. Time to talk about decriminalisation?
It won’t happen here in Bermuda.
I know, but it would be nice to see an actual debate/discussion on the topic outside of the comments section on Bernews. :p
Ok Sarah I am now confused . . . you want to decriminalize marijuana but throw the book at the thugs with guns etc!!!! Obviously you are very clueless (streetwise or not)! What the hell do you think started this tirade of violence . . .
I am sick of people who wanna have their cake and eat it too. You can’t sit in your house smoke weed and then degrade the pusher who you get it from when violence erupts over drug turf!!!!!!!!!!!
Give me a BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!
What sense does prohibition make if if results in causing more crime than than the actual ‘crime’ it was set up to prevent.
drug users don’t have guns (for the most part). Drugs dealers do. I think Sarahs point is to take the drug dealers out out of the equation. Marijuana did not start this tirade of violence. It is the money behind it that did.
Decriminalising or legalising marijuana takes control of the supply away from the dealers, at least a bit. That would theoretically give them less to fight over. I’m not quite sure why that is hard to understand.
I have never and will never smoke weed, so I have no interest in the cake, only in public safety. And yes, I will degrade anyone who uses guns. There is no excuse for that.
the government is dumb..thats all i have to say
Is he a runner or something? All those officers for one farmer? Surely they could use their resources more effectively!
You have nothing better to do J? So if its was only one officer and the guy decided to leg it and gets away then you’ll be on here singing a different tune. Its called taking every precaution. Its a picture how do you even know the other officers are walking with the man? You forget that boy Dill is in Court today too for allegedly having a gun or something, that may explain the extra people. If you look carefully they (the ones in the back) are not even walking with him. Just because you have freedom of speech doesnt mean you always have to say something. Why do people complain about EVERYTHING?!?!?
Whether they are part of the escorting of the accused or not, ankle chains should be standard in the ‘daily walk’ to eliminate 100% the chance of anybody running away ever again.
LOL at you J. what you tryna say, white man can’t jump…. Let the police do the job that they were trained to do.
You have to keep in mind that the powers that be do not want to decriminilise marijuana. I’t all about the money – not about the evils of drugs!
When was the last time you heard anybody talking about making alcohol illegal??? (In spite of the recent announcement that alcohol is the most dangerous drug in our society!)
We live in such a B.S. world!
MOVE TO SOMAILA. NOBODY WOULD CARE WHAT YOU DO THERE.
Malachi… You win the prize for… the smartest man in this discussion.
It is all about the ‘dirty’ money that both citizens (willing to take that risk) and trusted officials make from the drug trade.
This problem is not just in BDA but globally. Check bbc.com and publications about poppy fields in afghanistan (who supplies 90% of the world’s opium i might add) and tell me those troops are on their way how any time soon.
Legalization of certain classes of drugs have actually been proven to lower the rate of crime. Check out the UK study of Camden Town (2004).
Not only that… the legalization takes the novelty out of a smoke and could prove a smart move for Bermuda’s future on many fronts.
I.E. how many of you young Bermudians have know a person with all of the sporting/ academic talent in the world who got ‘caught up’? I can name 5 easily
Furthermore, Holland has a lower drug use rate than neighbouring countries and lower rate of teenage sex and they have legal marijuana smoking and that other red light thingy that ol’ fellas like as well as stag party throwers!
9 out 10 pot heads use/abuse other harder narcotics such has ecstasy(very popular in Bermuda), oxycodone, etc. Legalization will only make things worse in Bermuda! Like we need marijuana to be legal on top of alcohol. Dear God I couldn’t imagine.
you are an idiot. Maybe 1 out of 10 marijuana users uses harder drugs. It is no more of a gateway drug than alcohol and cigarettes. Maybe you should do some actual research before you start trowing facts out there. It makes you sound like a tool.
Uncle Rukus where do you get your facts. Maybe 9 out of 10 pot users YOU KNOW use harder drugs. Last time I checked alcohol did more damage than marijuana. Could be wrong. Never seen liver failure from weed, never seen someone hit and kill someone on the road because of weed. Um just sayin…..
Me thinks you spouting your own facts and not some real fact you read somewhere. Please post the link to your 9 out of ten. Of all of the friends I had WAY back in the day that smoked, not ONE of them used anything else other than alcohol or cigarettes. Perhaps the people you know are hard core drug users and use marijuana to bring down their high so they can function normally?
where did u get those numbers? come on nephew, stop tryin to sound like u know what everyone is doin
The Gateway Theory is based on bad logic and bad science. Logically speaking, precedence does not imply causation. Pharmacologically speaking, there are no known drugs that produce a craving for other drugs.
I’m willing to view the source for your numbers though. They don’t seem to agree with any studies I’ve viewed in the past.
please show me those facts of your ridiculous comment!!!! You are obviously blowing smoke out ya….
We must come to the realisation that no matter how much invested to stop the drug trade its a war lost when it was started.no less than a century ago most of these drugs were store bought household items,only made illegal by race,when drugs were first made illegal they were not exactly illegal only blacks and mexicans were not allowed to use all drugs and asians were not allowed opium.Queen Victoria ate hashish confections to ease her menstrual cramps.The gateway theory is far from true(if you smoke weed your chance of use of harder drugs) thats foolish,if i drink milk will i go on to drink alcohol,if i kiss a girl will that make me want to kiss a male?Rule the gateway theory out.In recent years we were finally allowed to find out how did they figure that weed kills brain cell ,what they didnt tell you that for 6 months everyday they gave monkeys 60 extra strength columbian joints administered through a gas mask which ended up suffocating,which results in loss of brain cells.
I dont blame him for growing his own,and if most people actually knows what happens to weed before it arrives on the island then you wouldn’t either.Most smugglers would rather get cheap old weed that in the end ends up getting sprayed with all sorts to give it a better smell,more powerful,and heavier in wieght to increase sales and profit.Why is it a loss war? prohibition never works as good as regulation and control.Prohibition of alcohol is what created al capone during that time and prohibition of drugs is what created pablo escobar,rick ross and locally (name edited: murder victim) R.I.P..In holland they decriminilized weed as a deterant to discourage people from useing it and has it workd,statistics show that only 35 percent of teens under 18 smoke weed crime has dropd 60 percent while bermuda still follows the american way we will continue to be lead astray.Most people dont know that the Drug Free America was sponsored by the alcohol tobacco firearms industry.It makes sense to sponsor them to promote there own products.
It’s clear to me that some people commenting are just saying ANYTHING!!! There will always be a debate with this but please before you pick a side you need to know what you are talking about. ie UNCLE SIMPLE RUCKUS
Come on Bermuda, wake up and realise smoking weed or doing any other drug isn’t a criminal matter, its a health matter and should be treated as such. Just look at Portugal where all drugs are now decriminalised and the rate of abuse has gone down including the rate of infection through harder drugs.
NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T PUT INTO YOUR OWN BODY!
Ahmen Will.. but that will never happen, WAY too much money in cannabis on this island for it to be decriminalised.
Just look at alcohol prohibition in the states. Peddled by people put in power. The same people who fought for it to be made illegal.
yeahy i hear you on that one. when it comes time for a vot on the topic, which will happen because it has to happen it will most likely fail. It wil be the same thing we saw happen in California last year. The vote failed because the people selling it refused to vote for its legality because they’d lose out on so much revenue.
But dont worry Bermuda the change will come. Its only a matter of time before people realise its not ok to control someone’s lifestyle, especially when the most dangerous drugs you can get right behind the counter at your local store (Alcohol, Cigarettes, Aspirin, Caffeine, Sudafed-makes meth…and a whole host of other things which will kill you, including sugar) How many deaths per year due to weed worldwide? a big fat ZERO.
it was not the actual vote that failed,whoever wrote the bill to congress failed it was written so badly that they didnt bother to entertain it.california does have the most medical marijuana shops in america even though it wasn’t decriminalized,and its so easy to get a certificate from a doctor. at the end of the day its freedom of choice who are we to judge and discriminate a next person for what they do.legal drugs do more harm then illegal drugs,the war on drugs itself has killed more people and made more people rich on both ends at the same time.
Hey,
it was written well. By the owner of Oaksterdam university the original grow school.
The reason it failed is because of the medical dispenseries you refer to. How much money would they make if everyone was allowed to grow 25 square feet of cannabis per household like the bill if passed would have allowed, im guessing ALOT less.
your right,the big thing was they didnt have an idea on how to tax it. medical weed brings in over 40 billion a year in the 13 states its allowed.hopefully the next one will be written better
Whoa! Hold on Bernews I posted more to my comment, we have something called freedom of speech here. I’m pretty sure i didn’t offend anyone with my comment as it spoke of the decreased harms which come from growing your own marijuana ie quality control, less pesticides. So what if he had $48,000 worth of cannabis, ever heard of stocking up?
In that case, I think we should make buying and smoking cigarettes illegal. Every year around 5.4 million people die from smoking cigarettes. That’s every 6.5 seconds!
Same thing or worse don’t you think?!
Probably be alot more crimes, due to lack of nicotine!
Well no we can’t make them illegal, we can educate. You can’t prohibit a commodity in a Capitalist society, it just doesn’t work and goes against the entire capitalist ethos.
Obviously if people want something they will find access to it, and there will always be someone to supply. Simple economics…
The one thing I would like people to understand if nothing else about this subject.
Marijuana being illegal has NOTHING to do with the danger/health aspect of it. Your government is NOT here to protect you. You can say whatever opinion you want about this subject, but one thing that is not up for opinion is the REASON behind it’s illegal status. It’s cold hard facts and they are not up for debate.
@ Sara … um ya maybe you should check de facts before you say it has nothing to do wit health/dangers of it. That was part of de reason it was made illegal in de States in the 30′s n 40′s. It’s called brainwashin people and propaganda…and money.
in 1937 the fbi was created and before that they managed to make all hard drugs illegal but they wanted to make weed illegal because that trade was run by mexicans that came into america to work and sell their weed but citizens voted against makeing weed illegal.so harry anslinger was forced into makeing sure that weed was made illegal no matter what,and then he found a loophole in the system the same law that helped make machine guns illegal.you had to get a government issued stamp to get it,and guess what they refused to make the stamps and that ended up going to the american supreme court and they allowed the machine gun act to stand even though they refused to make stamps.so anslinger used that same loophole to make weed illegal,but the question was how does he compare firearms to a weed?april 27 1937 the hearing on a federal law to ban weed began,anslinger used the gateway theory,that it kills children,they used comercials with teens killing parents when ave you ever heard of that happening?
you were right as far as saying brainwashed.what helped make congress minds up was the case of victor lacada a young man from florida who killed and cut up his family with an axe after smokeing a joint and he pushed that case to the congress and public to force people against it but what anslinger didnt tell people was that he also suffered from scitsophrania and that the weed didnt cause him to kill his family.these are all facts you can find it on youtube a real true based on facts documentary from the history channel called Hooked illegal drugs..
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/
http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/pot/blunderof37.html
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/
http://greyfalcon.us/Why%20is%20Marijuana%20Illegal.htm
No, I don’t think you have done your research my friend try again.
I am talking about the REAL reasons, not the false propaganda reasons.
i dont think you read it yourself,all the things that i mentioned were the same reasons in your link.they had no problem with the weed the had a problem with the people smokeing it.you need to learn how to read.i suppose you think that planes blew the twin towers up,honestly you need to wake up,all brains and no common sense
sergio,
I am a little concerned about you. Did you even READ my post?
This was my very first post that started the cataclysmic events.
“The one thing I would like people to understand if nothing else about this subject.
Marijuana being illegal has NOTHING to do with the danger/health aspect of it. Your government is NOT here to protect you. You can say whatever opinion you want about this subject, but one thing that is not up for opinion is the REASON behind its illegal status. It’s cold hard facts and they are not up for debate.”
So as you can see sergio we are saying the same thing there buddy. what were you going on about telling me i was wrong and failed a paper? ONLY to tell me my links proved YOU right? The links proved what I said above to be correct.
You’re desire to insult instead of discussing the issue says a lot about you.
As I said, after all of this bickering with me, I am pretty sure we are saying the same thing and that is what is so disturbing. You’re desire to argue is so strong that you don’t even thoroughly read other people’s posts.
What are those cold hard facts?
Just Google: the real reason marijuana is illegal and you will get countless websites that give you the MANY reasons. I had to do a research paper in college about the whole subject, so this subject is old news, but you should always do your own research, and never just believe what the government or anyone else(myself included) tells you without thoroughly researching it yourself. Just take a little time, if you care to, and look at the other side of the coin.
sorry sara but you obviously failed that paper in college.google this,the first world war was funded through hemp which is weed,the american independence was written on hemp paper,the americans used hemp to make ropes and other materials for thier war ships,it was given to their workers and soldiers to ease pain.sara you are so blind to whats going on.wake up honestly cause this world we live in now is a new world order,they only show you what they want you to see..RESEARCH..ever heard of the builderberg group and the boheamean club?
Um no I didn’t fail that paper by any means thank you. its odd to me that you could ASS U ME that. You know I learned a good saying, just because you say it, doesn’t mean its true. Check ya facts.
Please explain how your statement proves anything. All you are talking about is hemp, what does that have to do with what I stated?
And furthermore,
“While marijuana has a potency range of 3% to 20% by dry weight of THC, industrial hemp is generally defined as having less than 1.0% THC, and the normal range is under 0.5%. These THC levels are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. To receive a standard psychoactive dose would require a person to power-smoke 10-12 hemp cigarettes over an extremely short period of time. The large volume and high temperature of vapor, gas and smoke would be almost impossible for a person to withstand.”
So as you can see the strain used to create hemp is NOT the same.
well you obviously dont know that hemp is weed with all its thc drainded out,weed normal weed grown outdoors that is whats mainly imported to bermuda only has 1 -10 percent thc level,skunk grown indoors is from 10-30 percent thc.at the end of the day you just need to realize that all drugs period were made illegal for government funding it had nothing to do with the harm it caused people.the war on drugs has killed more people then the drugs has killed people.And all this can be backd up by looking on the web.When you have the time go to youtube and check out The illuminati project
this was my initial comment
“The one thing I would like people to understand if nothing else about this subject.
Marijuana being illegal has NOTHING to do with the danger/health aspect of it. Your government is NOT here to protect you. You can say whatever opinion you want about this subject, but one thing that is not up for opinion is the REASON behind it’s illegal status. It’s cold hard facts and they are not up for debate.”
tell me WHAT you think is different that what YOU are saying? I think you are confused, because we are saying the same thing. Weed being harmful/dangerous HAD NOTHING to do with WHY it was made illegal.
Sara you sound clueless……Act Like You Know and use your brain!! you sound stupid.
You just made yourself look clueless.
Do some research yourself and you see just how clueless you are. LOL
Why do you feel the need to tell others on a forum what to do?
I could understand if you brought some information to the table that proved me wrong, I’m fine with that, but to resort to name calling and telling me what I should and should not be doing? Oh, I get it, am I making you nervous??
ACT LIKE YOU KNOW lol
It’s cool Sara, everyone has their right to an opinion and the right to voice that opinion. Some of us are just ignorant in the ways of social communication/interaction. Nowadays we live with a less informed but more opinionated population of people so its only normal that the loudest people are also the least well informed.
This is so true, the saying loud, strong, and wrong comes to mind!
sara close that hole in your face…. you dont know!!! Oh and by the way FREE JOSH!!
What do you mean by this. Would you care to explain what you don’t like about what I say. How can you say I don’t know when the facts are there for you to read. Your name is bermy bud mon, so I would think you would be interested in the facts, no?
I don’t think you read my post correctly either. You’re desire to insult instead of discuss says much about you too. That’s cool have a great weekend!
Marijuana was made illegal in the U.S because blacks and mexicans smoked it. It’s prohibition was backed by several business empires and individuals that saw hemp and marijuana as a threat to their profits, but it was racism that got the law passed. It’s proibition had nothing to do with the health aspects behind it’s use. This IS fact.
Thank you, finally somebody that has a clue, the rest of you, well its a lost cause. You can Google these facts!! Marijuana being illegal HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HEALTH DANGERS!! I can’t believe the backlash over facts.
I have known these facts for a while now. What makes me laugh is why the PLP and any other black politician is perpetuating a near centuries old racist set of laws.
I’m going to go with money lol.
I just hope some members of these political parties we have here are looking at this and seriously considering the overwhelming facts. Its about time Bermuda started using evidence-based policies for drugs, not politically motivated agendas.
It’s because Harry Anslinger did SUCH a good job with his anti-marijuana propaganda that generations today believe what they do. Even the name -MARIJUANA- was given to have it sound more ‘mexican’ back in the day when American’s were much more south of the boarder haters than now. In the US during the 30′s cotton was a huge industry and cheaper Hemp from Mexico was being imported and competing with the cotton profits. Rich southern white men didn’t like this at all. (Read earlier comments about the Stamp Act…it’s all related)
Mr. Anslinger was quite good at twisting facts and creating spin and absolutely successful in scaring people who trusted their government when they said “reefer madness” kills your kids. And it was also said that untoward black people and mexicans smoked this devil weed and if you do you’ll be just like them. There are quite a few documentaries out there now that really try to educate folks on the history of Cannabis.
And folks have been smoking Cannabis much longer than the 1930′s and one would think that if Cannabis was a gateway drug then why are there not millions upon millions who smoke crack, cocaine, shoot up heroin etc.? I think people confuse the facts….yes, most people start out smoking Cannabis or try it first, more than any other drug but it does not lead you to harder drugs. The statistics are lopsided. If it leads to harder drug use then shouldn’t there be many more users of other drugs than Cannabis? That is definitely not the case.
People fear what they don’t understand and believe what they are told by those in “power” such as our parents, teachers, clergy, police and those we elect in office. Education is the key to understand anything and Cannabis is no different and until those in “power” can let go of their grip on the devil weed and understand through actual proven medical research, this “war” on drugs will continue, and all that’s associated with it. For adults it can sometimes be hard to admit when we are wrong about sometime and that in my opinion, is a huge reason why the status quo remains in place for Cannabis. Who wants to admit that? Do you see your elected officials coming out and saying, I was duped and wrong about pot?
Perhaps legalization and decriminalization is not the first step to take but rescheduling is needed so real medical research in the benefits or harm can be done. Right now that cannot happen in the US because it’s a Schedule 1 drug. But there is research being done in other countries that has shown that not only does it help people suffering from Glaucoma and Multiple Sclerosis, but also has an anti-cancer agent and found to decrease the size of tumors.
Here’s a few LINKS
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/64/6/1943.full
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2FZgErvNTE – Reefer Madness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2QZPo89flI – The Union (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sknoKWsVlAA&feature=related – Grass: The History of Marijuana
If anyone would like to see the modern day effects of decriminalization then they should take a look at Portugal.
- http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization
- http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/23/portugals-drug-experience-new-study-confirms-decriminalization-was-a-success/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/05/portugal-drugs-debate
I agree marajuana should be decriminalized doesnt have as much to do with the violence as most people think most of it started over girls and just escalated so what you going make being with girls illegal too? Just joking but seriously people have their names address and employment published for .6 grams and are at times put on the stop list like seriously can you even smoke .6 lol Im just saying I would rather know the name and address of the men who molest children. I dont care about the boy who had some residue and papers in his pockets. STOP CRUCIFYING PEOPLE FOR WEED p.s Sara I agree with everything you said and you didnt need made up facts and a bunch of numbers to make your point (not like others) and people discussions should not leed to arguments and name calling everyone is entitled to their opionion and take on things opinions are not fact so they cant be wrong…everybody take a draw and chill (joking)
Bermuda’s downward spiral into hard drugs started way back when because they came down hard on the Jamaican Ganja flights, opening Bermuda up to far more profitable drugs that are much, smaller & easier to smuggle in…crackheads reign, Bermuda loses.
Crack is the begining of the end for families and society as a whole.