What’s that Smell in Northern Ireland?…

A steady rise in cannabis usage over the last few years in Northern Ireland has culminated in a pretty dramatic increase in the illegal home-grow market. The police are reporting a 44% rise in what they call ‘cannabis factories’ and they have recently teamed up with a charity group called Crimestoppers to make the public at large better acquainted with the traits and features of the cannabis business that might just be happening, not only in their own neighborhood, but with their very own neighbor.

So the police and the organization have been handing out a note card sized flyer of information that on one side has a circular emblem which is a ‘scratch and sniff’, while the other has 8 indicative clues that there might be a cannabis factory in the vicinity. Next to the ‘scratch and sniff’ circle is written, “It’s completely safe: there are no drugs in the card, it’s just the smell of the plant.” Once scratched it lets out the unmistakable aroma of fresh growing marijuana flowers. 

The 8 points on the other side of the card are focused on how to recognize a marijuana grow are:

1) A strong and sickly sweet smell

2) Cannabis growing equipment

3) Covered or blocked off windows

4) Visitors at unsociable hours

5) Constant lighting day or not

6) High level of heat or condensation

7) Constant buzz of ventilation

8) Excessive amounts of cables

Apparently the police have busted 130 of these grow operations between April 2013 and March 2014 and according to Northern Ireland’s Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, this is cause for alarm, and who had this to say on the matter, “They are illegal and they are dangerous. The money generated by them runs into the millions of pounds.”

With such a guerilla tactic by the police, Northern Ireland’s cannabis using population better hope that their home-grows stay one step ahead of the little old lady in the next door apartment and use the information on the ‘scratch and sniff’ card as a heads up in how to keep their business tight and out of sight; or else they might see a significant drop in the availability of their favorite medicine and recreational elixir.