• 🇳🇿 🇲🇲 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇦🇺 🇦🇶 🇮🇳
    Australian & Asian
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • AADD Moderators: Tronica

Growing a small amount of weed in Victoria - Legality & reality

W

WarChild

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 27, 2000
Messages
224
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Hi folks,

A friend of mine is thinking about growing a few plants, indoors in their cubpoard using a grow light of some description. Not big plants maybe a few feet high and no more than 2 or 3 of them. Growing in soil. A real ammature job mostly for legitimate personal use.

REALISTICTY - What would be the ramifications if caught? From my personal experience - 1 time when a cop actually saw 3 or 4 plants that a friend had and actually said 'yeah you'll get a good harvest out of them' and then left. Also someone i knew who had 50 plants in their back yard and got off with some sort of diversion or warning. This is what i've heard, they don't give a shit about a few plants.

So who has first hand experience or knows the trend here? Specifically to Victoria (as i know the laws are looser in some other states)

My other question is what are the ways that my friend would get caught? If he told nobody, ran only one light (so power bill didn't give it away), sealed it up nicely so no light at night gave it away - are there any other high tech ways to catch a VERY small grow operation?

Cheers


WC
 
i wouldn't take any legal advice you get on this forum too seriously.
if you want to ...sorry, if your friend wants to give this a go, i just recommend they read as much as they possibly can on the subject of indoor growing, as well as doing everything possible to minimalise the chance of coppers coming into your house in the first place.
be careful, don't leave empty (used, even) baggies lying about your house, your car or your person, and be careful what you say on the phone. the simple stuff - if you're worried about the legal ramifications of such a thing.

be kind to your neighbours, especially if they're squares or paranoid crimestoppers-likely-calling old people.
it seems like a lot of people get ratted on by neighbours.

don't tell anyone that doesn't need to know - don't boast to people you don't totally know or trust about it.

the simple stuff - you know.

you also wouldn't want to put some amateurish rig together and set fire to your house with hot grow lamps, for example.
that would be fucked.

yes, it's a legal risk. how much of a risk, i don't think anyone can reliably say. it depends on so many factors; prior convictions, how a judge/cop etc may feel on any given day.
seems like lots of people do it though. they must find the risks worth the potential for strife, right?
good luck!
(to your friend i mean) ;)

edit - you might want to take a look at the youtube videos about 'never get busted again' or something, made by a former narc. the guy is an annoying asshole, but some of his theories (again, don't take internet legal advice too seriously) are interesting on the subject of growing/possessing/selling cannabis.
not great, but worth a look i reckon.
 
Last edited:
From experience I've seen from friends and family friends who have grown in the past, provided it's all been used for personal use and his not telling many people about it, it's pretty unlikely to be chased up.

The electricity bills for a small cupboard setup isn't going to use enough electricity to draw any unwanted attention. And if he's not telling people about it and trying to sell it, once setup it's got no reason to be found.

I know one guy who has been busted twice for growing though, both times it's been a small amount and he's gotten off with a fine. But he said he was told that if he is ever caught again with plants on his property he will face a jail term. So he has never grown since.
 
there's a site that has the amounts and levels of each illegal drug, i dont have it anymore, i think opi-8 showed me a link to a pdf last time but others have posted a url to it here in various threads in the past (i think its either a .gov.au or .edu.au site)

From memory (in regards to growing pot) it's either outdoor or enhanced indoor cultivation and the first level was under 5 plants for each (i think!). Dont know what the penalty would be, upto a judge I imagine, and would depend on things like priors and possibly if working etc, not too sure.
 
Yeah i did a google search and found it straight away http://www.dpmp.unsw.edu.au/DPMPWeb.nsf/resources/BULLETIN4/$file/DPMP+Bulletin+18+updated.pdf as of 2010, which i assume is still currant.

Where my friend lives is Victoria, so 10 plants is the limit where it becomes trafficking. I'm thinking he might be okay to have a few small plants tucked away somewhere discreet. My friend has grown before briefly and enjoyed it - the challenge of getting the conditions as good as possible to increase yeild etc.. a bit of a game. With a nice surprise at the end. ha!

WC
 
Would the FLIR choppers pick up a one light grow?

That is the first thing I thought of.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt it, what's the highest bulb you can get, like 1000 watts or something? Alot of people have heat lamps in bathrooms (i do in 2 of mine here with 4 bulbs each that are pretty strong) and other sources of heat that would show up all the time i would guess, one or two lights would be pretty safe I think (im jusst guessing tho, i have no source or proof) The people running whole rooms or houses with 5 or 10 + lights would be the ones that would be showing up big time I rekon, and anyway Vic (and nsw and qld etc) are big areas, you'd have to be pretty unlucky.
 
WarChild said:
Yeah i did a google search and found it straight away http://www.dpmp.unsw.edu.au/DPMPWeb.nsf/resources/BULLETIN4/$file/DPMP+Bulletin+18+updated.pdf as of 2010, which i assume is still currant.

Where my friend lives is Victoria, so 10 plants is the limit where it becomes trafficking. I'm thinking he might be okay to have a few small plants tucked away somewhere discreet. My friend has grown before briefly and enjoyed it - the challenge of getting the conditions as good as possible to increase yeild etc.. a bit of a game. With a nice surprise at the end. ha!

WC
Click to expand...

oh yeah its 10 then for vic.. In NSw (where I am) its 5.. It doesnt mention the difference on there about outdoor and indoor enhanced, but im sure the fines are steeper for the indoor, i read it on some site a while ago im pretty sure.
 
poledriver said:
I highly doubt it, what's the highest bulb you can get, like 1000 watts or something? Alot of people have heat lamps in bathrooms (i do in 2 of mine here with 4 bulbs each that are pretty strong) and other sources of heat that would show up all the time i would guess, one or two lights would be pretty safe I think (im jusst guessing tho, i have no source or proof) The people running whole rooms or houses with 5 or 10 + lights would be the ones that would be showing up big time I rekon, and anyway Vic (and nsw and qld etc) are big areas, you'd have to be pretty unlucky.
Click to expand...

Good point. I have heard the bit about the Tastic's before. I didn't even consider it.
 
I wasn't sure if this was an urban myth...? This is helicopters that sense thermal energy (high temperatures) even through solids like wood or brick to detect large grow operations? Am I right?

Correct me if i'm wrong - i thought the new trend were these flurescants that don't get particularly hot or use much wattage? I know the old metal halide lamps get very hot but are now not considered the best light any more? The fluro lights my friend has been looking at are 130 watts each and two are required that each give a different spectrum.

Am i missing something?


WC
 
Don't give them a reason to find it. Loose lips sink ships, but as space junk mentioned you are more likely to have the cops on your door step because you have been dobbed in by a pissed off neighbour. If the police have no reason to suspect you and you look for all the world like an upstanding citizen it is unlikely they will suddenly want to come snooping around your private home. Give them a reason to be pissed off, such as mouthing off when they have been called to a loud rawdy party, and they will take great pleasure in hauling your arse in for a roach in an ashtray.

The fact remains it is illegal, one plant or twenty. Personally I wouldn't even want the hassle of defending just a fine for personal use. You may luck out and get a tired cop who doesn't need to hassle of processing a possession charge or you might get an over zealous rookie who is itching for his first drug bust. You can never be sure. Saying that it is almost unaustralian to not grow your own at least once in your lifetime.
 
WarChild said:
I wasn't sure if this was an urban myth...? This is helicopters that sense thermal energy (high temperatures) even through solids like wood or brick to detect large grow operations? Am I right?

Correct me if i'm wrong - i thought the new trend were these flurescants that don't get particularly hot or use much wattage? I know the old metal halide lamps get very hot but are now not considered the best light any more? The fluro lights my friend has been looking at are 130 watts each and two are required that each give a different spectrum.

Am i missing something?




WC
Click to expand...


No, you are probably right, 2 x 130 watt fluros wouldnt get detected i'd imagine, that seems awful low to me tho. But that seems like a good idea for when they are young, but as the go into flower i dunno if that would be strong enough to give optimul results.

But i'm no expert at all, im only going off friends shit in the past.

I thought HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lights/globes were the best (they give off that really yellow, warm glow), but after reading this following link you can use many types (MH Metal Halide, Fluros etc) and like Spacejunk said, read up heaps or youtube etc so much info out there. If growing in a cupboard or walk in wardrobe etc, i'd guess hps and mh lights would be too powerful and hot. You need a bit of space for those and ventilation/fan etc.

http://www.cannapedia.me/What+type+of+light+should+I+use

Yeah as busty and SJ say, be responsible, dont piss off your neighbours, dont bring round strangers to party etc etc
 
Last edited:
My friend is very discreet and a quiet guy. If the choppers just pick up temperature variations than its fine cause im sure these lights are "low heat output" according to a retailer. And i doubt the choppers would measure electrical current.... and like I said he is only looking at two or three small plants. It is a calculated risk.
 
The new methods these days are with LED's.

FLIR is definitely not an urban myth. Check out the bush vs "hyrdo" thread for my story about the chopper here that was having it's flight plan regularly logged publically until the cops worked it out and stopped it. It was doing circles over my suburb :)
 
may I suggest to your mate for him to do a fuck tonne of research on hydroponics or talk to a few growers in the know so he atleast has a rough idea on what he's doin before he goes and spends big $$$$ on a set-up because at the moment, he does seem pretty clueless..

even though the basic principles of hydroponics is simple, there is sooo much you need to know and understand before you start because there are so many little things which can potentially fuck up your crop and its not as simple as chuckin some dope plants in a cupboard under some fluorescents lol

check out the ozstoners forum for all the info and tutorials he'll need...

if he's worried about pigs already, he's got a whole lot more worrying ahead of him...

and remember, loose lips sick ships (as busty previously mentioned)

EDIT: I dont know vic's laws but he should be more worried about the amount of dry mull he has in his possession apposed to two or three plants... keeping in mind one plant, under a 1000watt HPS, with a decent air intake/ventilation, fed correctly, ect. can easily yield a lb of dried heads....

all the coppers need to find are some sandwhich bags in the kitchen or some scales in the cupboard and BOOM, intent to sell of supply xxx grams of cannabis...
 
Last edited:
Yeah good advice... I used to use ozstoners alot, it's a good site, im still a member actually, just havent been active in many yrs.
 
Quick info:

1: FLIR won't pick up a light under 600W
2: I did a 3 plant grow. Neighbors ratted as smell was bad, $2500 fine and 70 hours community work.

Don't bother. You'll spend more to grow them with nutes, elec bill and maintainence.

My opinion anyway.

AS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top