UK - Personal use home grown Marijuana

[Fango]

Sorry if this is in an archived topic, but I cant seem to find anything related to the current UK Law.

Ok, so SWIM is considering a home grow, very small time, SWIM is not a big smoker, and as it will actually be just for SWIM and SWIM's other half, SWIM feels that 1 - 2 plants would yield about what he/she needs (around 1-4 ounces over a 3 month grow, leaving the cuttings 20 days to dry after) SWIM moved to a new town a little while ago and has no dealers. SWIM always used to use friends that dealt, SWIM doesn't like the idea of giving money to a dealer he/she doesnt know, for stuff that he/she cant be sure of.

SWIM wants to know how this would be looked upon under current uk law. SWIM has no convictions or warnings for anything, completely clean record. What concerns swim, is that just 1 plant could yeild 1-2 ounces of Marijuana after drying, Is that still enough to be seen as dealing? Or is it just viewed as a personal amount, and a warning issued? Do the police weigh the whole plant, and charge you on the weight of the whole thing before drying? or do they charge for what the actual weight of smokable MJ the plant would produce?

SWIM would be doing everything by the book, paying for the electricity legitimately and breaking no laws except for possesion for personal use. SWIM will definately not start this if the law says that anyone caught growing will serve jail time, as that is not a risk SWIM is willing to take.

Thanks SWIMMERS for any light that you can shed.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Interesting question that has resulted in a lot of useful information

[cannabis-sam]

If there's scales and baggys or large amounts of unexplainable cash around the house then you could be charged with intent to supply. 1 or 2 plants is unlikely to get you jail time, most likely a warning and small fine. They will also look more kindly on less sophisticated operations, e.g no hydroponics no specialist nutes etc.

[Fango]

Ok, Cheers SWIC-S!

SWIM read some articles about it and they make it seem like its about as bad as getting caught with a big ol' bag of MJ.

SWIM does have a set of cooking scales, but nothing electric and precise, as for baggies SWIM would probably keep it in an old trusty Tupperware container. SWIM has heard that trying to use things that are widely available at a DIY shop will work in SWIM's favor if caught. SWIM thinks that the only thing that he couldn't get from a DIY store would be the specialist bulbs.

This is somewhat off topic but would buying feminized seeds be seen as "sophisticated" set up? SWIM cant figure out if it will or wont, as if he uses feminized seeds (although more expensive) then he could have only 1 plant growing at a time, and not have to have a cloning set up going on which = less sophisticated, It would mean SWIM would have 4 or less seeds on the property as well as the 1 plant.

[cannabis-sam]

they will not be able to tell if they are feminized seeds, and even if they did know, no it won't make a difference, commercial set ups always use cuttings.

[AceOvArts]

SWIM used to grow and it got surprisingly scary when he had crops growing on rotation and more bud than he could smoke stashed around the house. That added to the paranoia one gets from smoking anyways proved to be a tough time for SWIM
However, once SWIY has got the hang of things he shouldnt need to grow more than 1 or 2 plants assuming he has green fingers and the seed is of good stock and produces a reasonable yield per plant (At SWIMS best he could yield 4oz from a good indoor indica heavy plant) So if one were to only have say 4 plants at any one time growing on rotation its possible that if busted the said person would have his eqipment and smoke confiscated, he would probably be fined (as heavy as the judges mood takes him that particular day) and of course would get a criminal record for production of a class C drug (this being the worst bit)
BUT !!!
Please dont takes SWIMs word for it as there is no telling how much the bastards want to throw the book at a grower on a particular day.
But as was suggested, so long as it all looks like its for personal use it shouldnt be a huge deal.
If SWIY is prepared to do the crime he must be prepared to do the time to unfortunately, SWIM believed in his right to grow and consume whatever he wanted when he grew weed.
Nowadays though, he dont grow or smoke, weird huh?
One thing though, be prepared for your first couple of crops giving a bad yield, SWIM found that even when he nursed other growers through the methods he had learned new growers always needed a good amount of time to make mistakes for themselves and learn how to do everything themselves, its a great hobby (especially when you get good enough to cross breed etc.) but it is fairly time consuming to start with, tell SWIY to get as much literature on home growing as possible and buy good seed stock (or get cuttings if SWIY knows someone) as good seed is the real key.
Decide what space SWIY has and get seed that will fill that space (but not outgrow it).
Dont do what SWIM did and grow lots of plants because if they ALL grow well SWIY will have too much weed to pass off as personal use, thats when things get tricky.
SWIM suggests 4 plants at a time, 2 on grow cycle and 2 on flower, this should give a respectibale amount of bud and if SWIY has fast flowering strain then SWIY could possibly be cropping every 4-6 weeks.

[Pondlife]

Originally Posted by AceOvArts

he would probably be fined (as heavy as the judges mood takes him that particular day) and of course would get a criminal record for production of a class C drug (this being the worst bit)

For the Magistrates court, there are defined bands for fines, and these set the possible range of fine based on the person's weekly earnings (which is a topic in itself). The bands are:

Band A - 25% to 75% of weekly income
Band B - 75% to 125%
Band C - 125% to 175%

For small-scale production for personal use, the likely fine band is B or C.

As you rightly say, the criminal record is probably the worst bit. According to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, fines become spent after 5 years. That's bad enough, but what makes it worse is there are many jobs that require enhanced CRB checks, and these will disclose even spent convictions.

[Fango]

Nice info SWIAce

I have been shot down by the fiance now anyway, she said she want to wait till we are in a bigger place before i start, so i have to respect her wishes

The dream will have to wait until we are living somewhere a bit bigger, makes me want my next flat/house to have a seller, or box room :P

[cannabis-sam]

Now I'll repeat something I post on nearly every thread someone starts about growing.

Have you considered guerilla growing (growing outdoor off your property) you only get one crop a year but the yields are much greater (like 500-900 grams per plant) so it could easily be a years supply for the light smoker, it's also less risk, and requires much less effort and investment.

[Fango]

Hehe, I have seen you talk about that on loads of other topics.

SWIM has considered it, I'm not sure about the kind of places I could do it locally, can SWIY recommend any tips on the kind of area to do it? Do i just go around plopping some seeds in various bits of woodland? I will have a look for some topics on the forum now.

[cannabis-sam]

I feel like I'm being a pain just saying it to everyone, but it's something that not many seem to consider especially people who aren't in circumstances where indoor grows are possible.

OFF TOPIC i know, want to me know more start a new thread, I don't want to fill this thread up with off topic crap that's been repeated elsewhere.

[AceOvArts]

The beauty of guerilla growing is its like free weed !.. Little or no work and if one finds a nice secluded spot with plenty of sun youre one happy bunny

[Pondlife]

There are three possible offences:

1. Class B possession, misuse of drugs act 1971 s.5(2)
2. Class B possession with intent to supply, misuse of drugs act 1971 s.4(3) and 5(3)
3. Cultivation of cannabis, misuse of drugs act 1971 s.6(2)

I'll concentrate on the third one, cultivation of cannabis. The guidelines for this depend mainly on the amount. From the current magistrates sentencing guidelines, ths starting points are:

"Very small scale cultivation for personal use only i.e. one or two plants" - Band C fine.

"Small scale cultivation for personal use and non-commercial supply to small circle of friends" - High level community order.

"Commercial cultivation" - Crown Court.

Someone who was growing a couple of plants for personal use and was not sharing it would be at the lowest end with starting point of a Band C fine. This could be reduced downwards (e.g. to a band B fine) by mitigating factors, or upwards (e.g. to a low-level community order) by aggravating factors.

Some mitigating factors are:

1. Evidence drug used to help with a medical condition
2. Original planting carried out by others

Some aggravating factors are:

1. Use of sophisticated growing system
2. Use of sophisticated system of concealment
3. Persistent use/cultivation of cannabis
4. Involvement of vulnerable/young persons

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Cleared up this thread, and answered the question perfectly with good, factual information.
	Production offence allows asset recovery S4 not S6
	Excelent, Thanks for the info, very helpful
	Great legal information as always!
	Decent legal info

[Sunshine-Band]

S6 cultivation rarely charged - it is nearly always charged as S4 production offence - frankly all these charges are nonsense - an abuse of the court's process - a discrimination between drugs which are no more harmful if one takes the analogous comparator of alcohol.

[cannabis-sam]

S6 cultivation rarely charged - it is nearly always charged as S4 production offence - frankly all these charges are nonsense - an abuse of the court's process - a discrimination between drugs which are no more harmful if one takes the analogous comparator of alcohol.

The misuse of drugs act is currently being challenged by a cannabis grower, on the grounds of misapplication of the law he explains it fully in an interview, and he has a good case IMO. Bastards won't let him win I don't think.

http://www.drugequality.org/

Reputation Comments on this post:

Awesome relevant interview

[Pondlife]

Originally Posted by Sunshine-Band

S6 cultivation rarely charged - it is nearly always charged as S4 production offence

That's an interesting point. Having another read of the misuse of drugs act, I see that S.37(1) says:

“produce”, where the reference is to producing a controlled drug, means producing it by manufacture, cultivation or any other method.

So that implies that cultivation of a controlled drug could be prosecuted under S.4(2).

But a plant containing a drug or with the potential to contain a drug is not necessarily a controlled drug itself. My understanding is that "cannabis" (the controlled drug) is restricted to the flowering and fruiting tops of the plants, so an immature cannabis plant would not be controlled. I therefore suspect MDA S.6 was introduced to prevent growing cannabis at all.

I believe S.4(2) would only be applicable once the plants had flowered, but S.6(2) would apply at any time - even if the plants were only seedlings. So a person cultivating could be prosecuted under S.6(2) at any time, but the prosecution would also have an option to charge under S.4(2) if the plants were discovered after flowering.

[Sunshine-Band]

Originally Posted by Pondlife

That's an interesting point. Having another read of the misuse of drugs act, I see that S.37(1) says:

“produce”, where the reference is to producing a controlled drug, means producing it by manufacture, cultivation or any other method.

So that implies that cultivation of a controlled drug could be prosecuted under S.4(2).

But a plant containing a drug or with the potential to contain a drug is not necessarily a controlled drug itself. My understanding is that "cannabis" (the controlled drug) is restricted to the flowering and fruiting tops of the plants, so an immature cannabis plant would not be controlled. I therefore suspect MDA S.6 was introduced to prevent growing cannabis at all.

I believe S.4(2) would only be applicable once the plants had flowered, but S.6(2) would apply at any time - even if the plants were only seedlings. So a person cultivating could be prosecuted under S.6(2) at any time, but the prosecution would also have an option to charge under S.4(2) if the plants were discovered after flowering.

Are you guessing plants do not contain enough THC before flowering? I guess they MIGHT do, only much much less, you may have a point although I dont think that is the reason they charge S4, I think its to do with asset recovery - Anyway, S4 is nearly always used. Sometimes S6 is used for very small ops, but it is rare. Anyway, germinating a seed would still be an offence under S4 even if THC was virtualy undetectable given that the species can be clearly identified and then we are into the inchoate offences of conspiracy to produce a class B drug, criminal attempt to produce a Class B etc.

[jaffacake]

Because you are growing them you will be treated a lot more seriously than mere possession of cannabis would. You'd be fined and splashed all over the newspapers.

In addition it would be very difficult getting house insurance - you'll need to admit your criminal record to your insurers who may withdraw cover.

[Fango]

That guy is a legend! Love the story. +rep for the info guys.

I think I'm slowly talking my girl around. Hehe.

[AceOvArts]

So Cannibis is Class B again ? I thought it was still Class C, I know they wanted to regrade it back up but didnt know this had actually happend yet.

*edit: yeah class B since January I just read.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/d...lassification/

[Fango]

class B again since jan, its a joke isnt it. Especially as they all the scientists said it should be declassified or stay at C.

Oh the world we live in.