A Kushy Flat

I don't know how they did it, but some folks thought it would be a great idea to convert a 350-square-foot flat in To Kwa Wan into a marijuana farm.

After a tip police raided the place and found 400 fully grown plants and hundreds more cannabis sprouts, along with solar lamps, a sprinkler system, soil and fertiliser, all packed into cubicles fitted with two or three filtered stove hood fans for ventilation. No one outside knew what was going as the windows were covered in red plastic.

Now that's lot of pot. Maybe they got the idea from a police raid last year, when officers grabbed 150 plants from a flat in Sham Shui Po. The police assistant district commander believes the pot was 'for local consumption'. Gee, ya think?

It's not entirely surprising someone would attempt this (no arrests as yet), given the lack of land where plants could grow undetected. In Canada and the United States pot growers have learned to go remote, as home operations are often given away by huge power consumption that sends up a red flag to anyone looking for it. But in Hong Kong, sooner or later someone would stumble onto a farm simply because the territory is laced with the hiking trails.

That's not to say it would be impossible to hide a farm, just that it would be more than difficult. Then again setting up shop in a tiny flat isn't the easiest trick to pull off either, so you must admit that whoever did it has some serious stones.

All of which makes me think that the government should legalise and tax weed. Farmers in the New Territories could switch from growing flowers or veggies and oh! how the money would roll in. Think of it: cancer patients could find relief from treatment side-effects, pot-heads could indulge without fear of prosecution, and government coffers could swell with cash that could be used to improve the quality of life for all Hong Kongers.

But that's, forgive me, a pipe dream, so until such a day arrives it's likely that sooner or later, someone else will give the old urban plantation a whirl.

← Older Posts · 早前 | →