The discovery of 100 marijuana plants in an apartment in El Charco de San Ginés, in Arrecife, has once again highlighted the cultivation of this drug in Lanzarote. Although this type of seizure of such a large quantity of plants is not usually common on the island, according to the National Police, what is spreading is the planting of several plants for personal consumption and not for drug trafficking. "Many people have one or two small plants at home for their own consumption," explains the head of the Arrecife Local Police, José Antonio Lasso.
Perhaps that is why the issue generates great controversy among readers every time a seizure occurs. In the forums, while some reject its use, many defend its legalization and claim that the police should dedicate themselves to arresting the big dealers. The opinion of these readers clashes with the latest intervention of the Local Police, who arrested a person this Tuesday in the vicinity of the Pancho Lasso School in Arrecife with "five pieces of about 3 centimeters of hashish, a joint and 20 euros".
After an event like the one in El Charco de San Ginés, La Voz contacted the two stores in Arrecife that sell marijuana seeds, something that is paradoxically legal. However, given the controversy surrounding this issue, both businesses preferred to remain silent and were reluctant to give details about their sales.
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior from 2008, the consumption of this substance, better known as "weed", is still less than that of hashish. Thus, 682,671,918 grams of hashish were seized nationwide, while 3,751,076 grams of marijuana were seized. Lasso agrees with this, indicating that the consumption of so-called white drugs has increased. "There is quite a bit of consumption and minor dealing," he says.
The great home laboratory
By the term "dealing", what Lasso means is that it is common to "catch" a person in public with this drug, although in small quantities. The Arrecife Local Police sends between 15 and 20 weekly reports for consumption and illegal possession of cannabis on the street.
Although this would be common in the sale of this substance, last week the National Police found something very different, a real marijuana greenhouse in a home in El Charco de San Ginés. There, they found 100 pots of this substance, weighing more than eight kilos, which were found after agents were notified that a robbery was taking place in this house, which was uninhabited. "It was only used as a greenhouse," National Police sources indicated. The agents arrested two people, a 37-year-old woman, originally from Arrecife, and a 35-year-old man from Pontevedra, who had a rental contract for the apartment.
Inside the home there was a home laboratory for the treatment of the leaves, with an individualized irrigation system, air filters and pipes throughout the plant. The house even had a mechanized water system, dehumidifiers, heat lamps, opaque windows and chemical products. The National Police verified that the entire house was exclusively conditioned as a plantation and laboratory.
This is not the only finding that has occurred in recent days. The Civil Guard arrested an Italian at the end of February for having a marijuana plantation in the garden of his house. The 34-year-old man had seven pots "presumably" of weed in his home, located in the Pechiguera Lighthouse, in Playa Blanca.
Consumer profile
It is often thought that young people are the consumers of both hashish and marijuana, but, however, both drugs are used by "both young and old". However, it is true that hashish is usually more associated with young people and marijuana with adults, since they are usually the ones who "have one or two small plants at home to smoke it themselves", according to the head of the Arrecife Local Police, José Antonio Lasso.
What is clear is that the way of consuming of one and the other is very different. "What happens is that marijuana, when it comes to the herb, that is, when it is smoked, implies that people in Lanzarote cultivate it," Lasso indicates. "Older people smoke it quietly in their house and, on the contrary, the minor consumes it on the street and in groups and is the one who carries out the small dealing".
The reasons for smoking are many, although basically there are two, its recreational or therapeutic purpose. A 33-year-old Italian, who has been consuming marijuana for six years, welcomes the first of these reasons. He does it because he likes it and it relaxes him. "I find it very pleasant, it has a good smell and a good taste," he defends. Similarly, a 34-year-old from Lanzarote, who has been smoking this substance since he was a teenager, speaks out. In addition, he cultivates it for his own consumption and because in this way, he says, "I know what I smoke".
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