14 September 2011

The new scourge of cannabis dumping

| johnboy
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dumped weed

ACT Policing’s Rural Patrol is investigating several instances of dumped cannabis in rural areas of the ACT this month.

Around 10.45am today (Wednesday, September 14), Rural Patrol attended a road in the rural area of Holt after ACT Rangers found approximately 50 kilograms of cannabis dumped on the side of the road.

The cannabis consisted of clippings and roots from 15 plants, and is believed to be of low quality.

This is the third finding of dumped cannabis by the Rural Patrol this month, with two previous findings in Stromlo.

Police would urge anyone with any information on the dumped cannabis, or anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity or vehicles in the rural areas of Holt and Stromlo to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information to Crime Stoppers can be provided anonymously.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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LSWCHP said :

Just another indication that the economy isn’t doing so bad after all, at least in the ACT. It would only be in a moneyed-up town that someone would dump 50 kilos (FFS!) of dope of any quality rather than toke it up or sell it.

Clippings and roots – no-one smokes that sh1t.

Henry82 said :

akinky said :

i wish police would make more effort to investigate cases of dumped tvs, household waste, cats etc rather than wasting their time on this harmless activity

buy some cannabis and glue it to tv, household waste, cat

Damn, you beat me by a minute. 🙂

akinky said :

i wish police would make more effort to investigate cases of dumped tvs, household waste, cats etc rather than wasting their time on this harmless activity

Well, next time you see some TV’s dumped, scatter 50kgs of pot around them and call the city rangers…

akinky said :

i wish police would make more effort to investigate cases of dumped tvs, household waste, cats etc rather than wasting their time on this harmless activity

buy some cannabis and glue it to tv, household waste, cat

i wish police would make more effort to investigate cases of dumped tvs, household waste, cats etc rather than wasting their time on this harmless activity

Just another indication that the economy isn’t doing so bad after all, at least in the ACT. It would only be in a moneyed-up town that someone would dump 50 kilos (FFS!) of dope of any quality rather than toke it up or sell it.

Jim Jones said :

It’s sold by the ounce.

And, interestingly, in America where they still use the imperial system, it is sold by the gram.

Jim Jones said :

It’s sold by the ounce.

But that isn’t legal! products have to be marketed and marked in metric units. 🙂

Jivrashia said :

dtc said :

Of course, whether they did anything criminal or fine inducing with those items I have no idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but even if they did smoke them, as long as:
– No transaction took place (trade/purchase), which didn’t,
– Of an amount under what is deemed to be of commercial quantity (2 ounces?)
then they’re perfectly legit.

Possession\cultivation of small quantity is decriminalised to the point of a simple cannabis offence (although the law says a single penalty unit fine, DoDA explicitly states the fine is only $100).
Source: ACT Policing

Background:
Drugs of Dependence Act 1989
Section 162: Cultivation of 1 or 2 cannabis plants (Pg10 of linked)
(1) A person commits an offence if the person cultivates 1 or 2 cannabis
plants.
Maximum penalty: 1 penalty unit.
(2) In this section:
artificially cultivate means—
(a) hydroponically cultivate; or
(b) cultivate with the application of an artificial source of light or heat.
cultivates has the meaning given in the Criminal Code, section 615 but does not include artificially cultivate.

Section 171: Possessing prohibited substances (Pg 12 of linked)
(1) A person shall not possess a prohibited substance.
Maximum penalty:
(a) if the offence relates to a quantity of cannabis not exceeding 25g in mass—1 penalty unit; or
(b) in any other case—50 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years or both.

Section 171A: (8) In relation to a simple cannabis offence, the prescribed penalty is
$100.

Criminal Code 2002

618 Cultivating controlled plant (Pg 161 of linked document)
(2) A person commits an offence if the person—
(a) cultivates (artificially or otherwise) 3 or more cannabis plants;
or
(b) artificially cultivates 1 or 2 cannabis plants.
Maximum penalty: 200 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years or both.
Note: Non-artificial cultivation of 1 or 2 cannabis plants is a summary offence
under the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989, s 162.

(Pg 148 – 149 of linked)
Section 603: Trafficking in controlled drug
(1) A person commits an offence if the person traffics in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug.
Maximum penalty: imprisonment for life.

(3) A person commits an offence if the person traffics in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug.
Maximum penalty: 2 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 25 years or both.

(5) A person commits an offence if the person traffics in a trafficable quantity of cannabis.
Maximum penalty: 1 000 penalty units, imprisonment for 10 years or both.

(8) A person commits an offence if the person traffics in cannabis.
Maximum penalty: 300 penalty units, imprisonment for 3 years or both.

Criminal Code Regulation 2005 (Page 21 of linked)
Schedule 1 – Controlled Drugs:
Part 1.2 – Cannabis
Trafficable quantity: 300.00grams
Commercial quantity 25.00kilograms
Large commercial quantity: 125.00kilograms

PS: Skidbladnir is not a lawyer.

p1 said :

Green waste under 100mm in diameter can be dropped off for free just up the road at CSG (old belco tip location). Lazy sods.

Jivrashia said :

…Of an amount under what is deemed to be of commercial quantity (2 ounces?)….

Why, in a country that has used the metric system since 1966, would they measure the legal decriminalised quantity in ounces?

It’s sold by the ounce.

If you dumped this in green waste then I reckon there’d be a good chance that some seeds would take and grow quite well – which would be completely awesome!

Green waste under 100mm in diameter can be dropped off for free just up the road at CSG (old belco tip location). Lazy sods.

Jivrashia said :

…Of an amount under what is deemed to be of commercial quantity (2 ounces?)….

Why, in a country that has used the metric system since 1966, would they measure the legal decriminalised quantity in ounces?

Little Johnny’s parents whipper-snippered his grow house? Evidence dumped?

Jivrashia said :

dtc said :

Of course, whether they did anything criminal or fine inducing with those items I have no idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but even if they did smoke them, as long as:
– No transaction took place (trade/purchase), which didn’t,
– Of an amount under what is deemed to be of commercial quantity (2 ounces?)
then they’re perfectly legit.

I believe it is de-criminalised for non commercial quantities which just means a fine instead of a court appearance but it is still illegal.

Would someone please alert us to any further occurrences of this activity BEFORE any authorities are informed. I believe it is my civic duty to clean up this miss before the authorities waste their time on it.

dtc said :

Of course, whether they did anything criminal or fine inducing with those items I have no idea.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but even if they did smoke them, as long as:
– No transaction took place (trade/purchase), which didn’t,
– Of an amount under what is deemed to be of commercial quantity (2 ounces?)
then they’re perfectly legit.

bigfeet said :

I hope the hemp fibers are now being converted into environmentally friendly and extremely durable shopping bags and not just destroyed.

Or they could just burn it and pump all the smoke into the environment.. thatll balance out a bit of the benefit of the plastic bag ban.

I hope the hemp fibers are now being converted into environmentally friendly and extremely durable shopping bags and not just destroyed.

I’m sure the Greens are onto this already.

Playing cricket many years ago at the O’Connor oval, wandering around the boundary as you do, we (my team mates and I) stumbled across 6 large plants, roots still intact, dumped under a bush. Looked like someone had uprooted them from a nearby garden but got rid of the plants because they were too unwieldy (or were being chased?). Anyway, some of my more ‘experienced’ teamates spent some time trimming the useful stuff and took it home. Of course, whether they did anything criminal or fine inducing with those items I have no idea.

Well, technically its not littering as it would count as mulch and thankfully they have trimmed it so it will not sprout again. Why this seems to be a rather envioronmentally sound practice those dope fiends are doing.

This happens a lot, all over Canberra. As for extracting the oil it is probably not worth the effort since hydroponic growth is so much faster than natural growth, if done right, so there is no real need to do it. This would be the left overs after harvesting. Disclaimer: I am not a drug grower BTW but I do know a lot about hydroponics thanks to CIT.

“The cannabis consisted of clippings and roots from 15 plants, and is believed to be of low quality.”

I guess by now the officers have confirmed that its low quality.

Waste not, want not I say.

seems somewhat strange, maybe they got spooked with the idea of an impending police raid?

Yeah that stuff can be put to good use, but if you’re just a bikie trying to turn a quick buck you aren’t going to waste time making hashoil or edibles or anything.

50kg of leaf and stem! 50kg! Don’t these growers know how to extract the oil! Where has all the hash gone I wonder?

At least we’re zeroing in on the Canberra Chronicle dumpers…

How did they know it was ’15 plants’?

Admittedly, if its all stem, I wouldnt bother either…probably the only reason why the AFP reported it…

Pip pip

wildturkeycanoe8:02 pm 14 Sep 11

Hmmm, rural area of Holt, side of the road. Maybe they thought the green waste place charges too much for dumping and figured it wasn’t worth going all the way out there? Perhaps there should be a free “Haze-away” depot for dummies like these.

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