Bill targets indoor marijuana growers

[lexifer]

A bill to crack down on 'grow house' marijuana sprouting up around Florida is headed to the governor.

BY BREANNE GILPATRICK
TALLAHASSEE -- One of Florida's largest cash crops -- ''grow house'' marijuana -- is being targeted in new legislation that state lawmakers swiftly approved Thursday and sent to Gov. Charlie Crist for his likely signature.
The proposal, which would increase penalties for indoor marijuana growers and make it easier for police to prosecute them, passed the Senate 36-0 Thursday -- the same day local and federal law enforcement agents announced a raid of about 60 South Florida grow houses.
Law enforcement agents and prosecutors around the state say the indoor plants have become big business for growers trying to keep up with demand.
''It's very lucrative,'' said Capt. Kevin Butler of the Broward Sheriff's Office Strategic Investigations Division. ``You just basically sit at home and watch your money grow in the garage.''
Indoor growing operations have sprouted up in more Florida homes in recent years as growers move their plants indoors to avoid being caught and to use the more controlled environment to make their plants more potent.
Last year, county and local law enforcement agencies reported more than 940 grow houses in more than 40 of the state's 67 counties, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Those indoor sites housed almost 75,000 plants, twice the number destroyed by law enforcement officers in 2006.
In Miami-Dade, local and federal law enforcement officers seized 2,202 plants Wednesday. And in Broward, the BSO has uncovered between 12 and 20 grow houses since the start of the year, Butler said.
He said many growers can sell the marijuana for about $5,000 a pound, making it a ``major industry.''
Grow houses have been so prevalent that they've even entered pop culture, with a fictional grow house featured in the TV show Weeds, a Showtime hit about a suburban mom who makes a living by secretly selling marijuana.
But some parts of current state law have made it tough for law enforcement agents to prosecute Florida grow houses, said state Rep. Nick Thompson, a Fort Myers Republican and the bill's House sponsor.
Right now, growers need to have about 100 plants to get jail time under federal drug trafficking laws and 300 plants to be charged under state law. The bill lowers that to 25 plants -- about $100,000 worth.
''If you've got $100,000 worth of marijuana in your house, that's a business, not a party,'' said Thompson, who also works as a prosecutor.
The measure also increases penalties for people who grow marijuana around children, and allows law enforcement agencies to rely on photo or video evidence and plant testing results to prosecute indoor growers.
Right now, agencies generally need to store the contents of the grow house until the trial, which sometimes means keeping lights, PVC pipes and ventilation equipment in storage for more than a year.
''That's causing a real dilemma for the labs because they're running out of room,'' Butler said.
The bill now goes to Crist, who has said he will probably sign the bill.
''This is not just a situation where some people at their homes are growing a few plants for recreational use,'' said Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Cross Creek Republican and the bill's Senate sponsor. ``This is an organized crime.''
Miami Herald staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/flor...ry/517911.html