Medical Marijuana Traitors: Who Knows You Grow?
When you grow medical marijuana, you need happiness with your spouse or...watch out!
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Beware those crazy people who don't like medical marijuana... 
I hope you never hear these seven words guaranteed to change the life of any medical marijuana grower: "Police. Search warrant. Open the door. Now."
It's why I advise growers to develop intuitive alertness to risks, like having a “bust radar."
I've had near-catastrophic experiences that showed me the value of alertness. Like the time I met a medical marijuana patient named Jon (this is not his real name), at a doctor’s office.
He got hurt on the job and had near-constant pain. Medical marijuana was the only medicine that made him feel better, but he couldn’t afford dispensary prices.
Because I try to follow "Buddhist teachings" that emphasize compassion and generosity, I sometimes help people like Jon so they can grow their own medicine.
I visited his apartment, gave him an indoor grow book, and told him how much money he'd need for a small deep water culture (DWC) system, a fan, hydroponics nutrients, miscellaneous marijuana cultivation supplies, and at least one HID light.
The total cost was less than $1500; Jon knew he'd save money growing his marijuana instead of buying it.
The day came when we put together a small grow room for him. I gave him some clones. Jon was so good at marijuana growing that he became a caregiver for other patients. The compensation he got for growing their meds helped him move to a stand-alone house outside the city.
Soon after his move, Jon started dating a woman he'd met at the local library. They fell in love and married.
I still visited Jon every 6-8 weeks to work on new crops, exchange clones, or talk about garden upgrades. I had never met his wife. She worked in the city and got home late in the evening.
“I need you to come over right now,” he said on the phone one day. “I’ve got a really bad grow room problem.”
I got in my car right away, spurred by the strange tone of alarm in his voice. Then got caught in traffic. As usual, a reckless motorist had run over a bicyclist. Traffic was backed up for miles.
Sometimes a Grower Hears Startling News
When I finally arrived at Jon's house, an attractive Asian woman opened the door. I smiled, pleased that I finally got to meet Jon's wife, and extended my hand for a handshake.
The woman gave me an icy stare and walked away.
Puzzled, I followed Jon, who had hastily summoned me to go with him outside to the patio.
“She hates you,” he blurted out.
I’d never met the woman or spoken to her before. I couldn’t fathom why she’d have any feelings about me at all.
“You see, Dan, she hates marijuana. She says I’m a pot addict,” he explained. “Not only does she not get high herself, she wants me to stop medicating and growing.”
But why would she focus on me, and why would you get involved with a woman who's against marijuana, I asked.
“I didn't know how she was about marijuana until it was too late. She lied to me at first. I had already told her all about you, how you helped me get into growing my own medicine,” he said. “Now she blames you for me being an ‘addict.’ She says you are a ‘drug pusher.’"
Oh no. I’d seen this kind of mess before. Some partners, spouses, friends, or family members support your medical marijuana growing, but others are against it. Bad attitudes towards medical marijuana can cause relationship problems, and worse...as I was to soon find out.
“I wanted to warn you in person,” he said. “She’s on the warpath. She knows your name and phone number.”
“Now she knows what I look like too,” I replied.
I left in a hurry, almost running over his wife, who was standing far down the driveway near my car. I didn’t know until later that she had written down my license plate number and then given information to a "tip line."
As I drove home from Jon’s house, I ran through my emergency code red security checklist.
I decided it would be wise to delay my next clone cycle and scale back to having three motherplants and one operating HID light.
As a certified medical marijuana grower who is always well within his legal plant limits and in full compliance with the law, those three plants weren't going to cause trouble for me if the police posse came.
Yes, this caution was costing me in lost production, but I had no choice...
Police at the Door Demanding to be Let In
A few weeks later, I heard those seven dreaded words shouted through my triple-locked front door.
I steeled myself for the terror to come, opened the door so they wouldn't break it down.
Half crazed on raid adrenalin, the officers at first ignored my medical marijuana certification and my attorney’s business card, which I attempted to hand to them as they threw me to the ground.
After they searched my home, vainly trying to find piles of cash or weighing scales, they called my lawyer and doctor. Pretty soon they realized their bust was a bust. They left in a hurry, almost apologetic.
A few weeks later, I got mail containing a $150 gift certificate for hydroponics supplies, and a handwritten apology letter from Jon.
“I hope you’re ok,” he had written. “My wife is the one who narked you. She's out of my life. I’m sorry what she did. Please forgive me, man.”
I forgave him and moved on, like medical marijuana growers often have to. In fact, if I saw Jon or his ex-wife on the street right now today - I would think of them as suffering souls, and thank them for the lesson they taught me...
That's why I'm far more careful now about my security protocols, my choice of friends, my exposure to anyone anywhere who isn't reliably loyal to grower security in my medical marijuana sector.
Daniel Dharma has a master's degree that combines religious studies, neuropsychology and counseling. He's spent years examining the inner terrain of medical marijuana use, culture and gardening.
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Wednesday, 22 February 2012
