SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013 HAMILTON JOURNALNEWS COMPLETE. IN-DEPTH. DEPENDABLE. A5 are tied to the marijuana trade. The Butler County Undercover Regional Narcotics Task Force raided a Fairfield apartment last summer, where they found two bedrooms filled with vining plants, grow lights, irrigation and a ventilation system to keep the tell-tale Cannabis smell at bay.
In 2011, the task force busted two brothers who had packed a $245,000 house in Liberty Twp. with $1 million worth of marijuana plants. Warren County police broke up a $3 million pot ring last year involving a former Mason High School student who was operating a marijuana business. That marijuana grow and distribution operation spanned Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties. One of the ringleaders of the operation owned a Blue Ash furniture store with a marijuana grow operation inside, prosecutors said.
Two of the eight people indicted in the pot ring were from Butler County one from Twp. and one from Hamilton. is no question it is a large scale problem, and getting bigger and said Lt. Mike Craft, of the Butler County The indoor growing operations believe are the direct result of the for 10 years in a row, attacking the outdoor growing (operations) with helicopter he said. forced their hand.
The growers had to either move out of Butler County or be more Sgt. Mike Hackney of the added: is always a cat-and-mouse game. We get better at them, and they change their And the potency of their product. Marijuana today is not the of the 1960s and 70s, police say. The varieties are numerous and the THC levels (what gives marijuana its high) are stronger with the hydroponically-grown plants, which can fetch up to $5,000 a pound.
Pot grown outdoors, call it dirty weed, with stems, leaves and Hackney said, noting it sells for $500 to $1,500 a pound. But marijuana grown indoors with irrigation systems and grow lights is a much higher quality and price. just look at it and tell the Hackney said. Jones said the Internet has made ordering marijuana easy and tips on how to grow a good crop are readily available. you throw in the economy on top of it, and you get some large Jones said.
are talking serious Maj. Rodney Muterspaw, of the Middletown Division of Police, said so many people deal in pot because of the large customer base, particularly among young people. an easy Muterspaw said. a very easy Shannon Mattingly, her husband and two boys live around the corner from the Liberty Twp. home on Sunrise View Circle police raided in 2011, which not is in foreclosure.
A strong smell of chemicals alarmed residents in the neighborhood located near an elementary school. When drug agents arrived with a warrant, two men were in the attic covered with insulation. The rest of the house was packed full of pot plants in various stages of growth. Harvested plants hung in the basem*nt to dry. Huge holes cut in the and ceiling accommodated a ventilation system so that the marijuana did not mold, which decreases its value.
The upstairs windows were covered with drywall so bright grow lights shining all night would not attract attention. Power sources had been tampered with so a warm, tropical temperature could be maintained. The house was for living in; it was for growing marijuana, police said. would never have guessed in a million years what was going on Mattingly said. was a moment.
have a lot of kids in this the 36-year- old mother said. was scary to think what might have Nationally, arrests for marijuana exceeded arrests for violent crime by more than 100,000 in 2011, according to a report from the FBI. And in Butler County, authorities seized nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana in 2012 and have made nearly 800 marijuana arrests since 2007 more than any other drug, including crack, meth or heroin. But law enforcement say despite those numbers marijuana is not their top priority in the ongoing war on drugs. Highly addictive drugs such as meth and heroin usage of which police say has exploded are getting most of their attention.
out there that will kill you and the we go after the Muterspaw said. the courts frown upon it like what they used to. If the courts take it that seriously, then hard for the police to think that big of a deal, too. All we do is enforce the Muterspaw, who served in drug unit for years, said 20 years ago if you possessed or sold marijuana even a few joints it was a felony. it is really no than a he said.
still arrest on it if we see it, but we really target harder Marijuana laws have become liberalized over the past decade with 18 states legalizing the drug for medicinal use and two that allow it for recreational use. There have been discussions in Ohio about ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana. Muterspaw said changing attitudes about pot polling suggests a majority of Americans favor legalization is a contributing factor in the proliferation of these growing operations. hear people talking about the evils of marijuana he said. lot of people think it should be illegal why so many people are growing it these days.
You see people who are 21 (years old) growing it and people who are 51 growing Fran Iannachione, 24, of Trenton said she would favor legalization for medical purposes as long as it is regulated and prescribed for people who really need relief from painful, degenerative conditions. As for recreational use, Ian nachione said long as it is in their house, and they are not driving or anything while they are high, I have a problem with Zac Howard, 24, also of Trenton, favored legalization, but with limits. long as it is not out in the open, like at bars, he said. Craft agreed with Muterspaw that drugs like heroin are more of a focus for police, but that mean they are turning their backs on marijuana. turn our heads to it because it still does a hell of a lot of damage in our Craft said.
And while some view marijuana as harmful as meth or heroin, Hackney called pot gateway have talked to a lot of addicts crack, meth, heroin and almost always, they will say they started out smoking weed and progressed from Hackney said. Contact this reporter at 513-705-2841 or email Lauren.Pack@coxinc.com. Marijuana continued from A1 Pot a big business in Butler BUTLER COUNTY DRUG ARRESTS Drug200720082009201020112012 Marijuana19814712913775101 Heorine 52760372838 Cocaine24301012 5 2 Source: Butler County Marijuana plants were from a home last summer by the Butler County Drug Task Force. Some homes have been converted into sophisticated grow operations. CONTRIBUTED The Warren County Drug Task Force broke up a $3 million pot ring last year involving a former Mason High School student who was operating a marijuana business.
One of the ringleaders owned a furniture store that was used to grow marijuana. From Page One Associated Press CARLISLE, PA. A tour bus carrying a lacrosse team to a game went the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Saturday and crashed into a tree, killing a pregnant coach and the driver and sending others to hospitals, authorities said. Lacrosse players from Seton Hill University and three coaches were among the 23 people aboard when the bus crashed at about 9 a.m., turnpike spokeswoman Renee Colborn said. not clear what caused the crash, but state police were investigating, said Megan Silverstram of the Cumberland County public safety department.
Kristina Quigley of Greensburg, 30, was to a hospital and died there from injuries in the crash, Cumberland County authorities said Saturday that. They say Quigley was about six months pregnant and her unborn child did not survive. The driver, 61-year-old Anthony Guaetta of Johnstown, died at the scene of the crash. Two other victims were flown by helicopter to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Danielle Ran said. She did not give their conditions.
Officials said all other passengers were taken to hospitals as a precaution. The bus came to a stop upright on the side of the road with part of its left side shorn off, photos from the scene showed, though unclear whether that was from the impact or rescue operation. The lacrosse team was headed to play Saturday afternoon at Millersville University, about 50 miles from the crash site in central Pennsylvania, for its fourth game of the year. The Griffins were off to a promising start at 3-1 in the young season. Both game and a home game today were canceled after the crash, and Se ton Hill, a Catholic school of about 2,500 students near Pittsburgh, said a memorial Mass was planned for Sunday night on campus.
Quigley, a native of Baltimore, was married and had a young son, Gavin, the school said. She was in her second season as coach and led the Grif to 11 wins last year. She came to the school from Erskine College in Due West, S.C., where she started the NCAA Division II program. Pregnant coach, driver killed in team bus crash THERE ARE OVER 15,000 FIRES CAUSED EVERY YEAR BY DRYER VENTS. If it takes more than one cycle to dry, you need to clean your dryer vent.
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