How do all...... Was going thru some old stuff and came across this and got curious....
Is there anything in this piece that doesn't apply anymore and is there anything that should be added? In other words could someone still use this guide when they get started? Any thoughts and/or info appreciated.
stay free
flick
e2a- I know smart meters are around now but I'm really only interested in info having to do with the "dumb" ones talked about in this article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
Nym-Commands: -acksend
To: [email protected]
Newsgroups: alt.drugs.pot.cultivation
Subject: Security Tip #1- The Electric Company, You and the Boys in Blue
x-no-archive: yes
This is "Security Tips," excerpted from the book "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned." "Tips" is about the risks involved in cultivating marijuana for recreational, economic, or medicinal purposes. Examples of investigative
and arrest avoidance techniques illustrate these risks. These examples are by no means an endorsement of the criminal techniques discussed in this text.
"Criminal my ass."
AKA
Security Tip #1- The Electric Company, You and the Boys in Blue
Electric company records examination is the most well known investigative technique the authorities use to bust cultivators. In "Marijuana – The Law and You" Jeffrey Steinborn writes, "Examination of power consumption records has become a common investigative tool since indoor cultivation relies heavily on electricity." In "Marijuana Law" author Richard Glen Boire gives the text of an officer's affidavit for a search warrant that includes a statement about high electrical usage. Prior to the affidavits preparation the officer had contacted the electric company and found that use by the suspected grower was four times higher than his neighbors. In the January 92' issue of High Times the article "Making Sinse of the '90s" includes excerpts from The Pennsylvania Crime Commission's 1991 Annual Report on Drug Use in Pennsylvania. As possible investigative techniques this report suggests that police "Obtain suspect's power bills for the last six months to a year" and " Educate utility companies and establish a contact person within the company." Few dispute that this is common practice in some areas, but the extent to which it is used throughout the US is unknown. The use of electric company records as evidence by law enforcement is not a myth, legend, or hype designed to frighten potential growers. This evidence can and will be used. With this in mind, free growers take precautions to
nullify this investigative practice.
The good news for growers is that search warrants are not granted based solely on evidence of a sharp rise in, or unusually high electrical consumption. Better news is that usage record examination is easily defeated by your hero and mine the indoor weed wizards.
Because of electricity concerns, growers no longer run big operations on one site. Instead they use many small gardens. Even with smaller gardens, growers take precautions. Gardens using 400 watts or less should have very relaxed caretakers when it comes to this problem because electrical consumption for a garden with 400 watts or less is not an issue. (Many growers feel safe with up to 1000 watt systems running 12 hours a day many with 2 or 3 depending on the site.) Free growers keep two things in mind; avoid detection through electrical use and prevent usage records from becoming evidence against them in court if ever busted.
The first thing a grower does to combat this investigative tool is get a feel for their daily electrical usage. This is easily done by reading the electric meter and averaging out daily usage for a week with the garden lights and equipment off. Lights and equipment are turned on while usage is monitored for an additional week to calculate another average. This enables him to know the approximate increase in consumption before taking the next steps.
Grower's with 1000 watts or less will conserve on their electrical use to compensate for the addition of garden lights. Cautious gardeners turn down juice drawing appliances like refrigerators, electric heaters or water heaters, pool heaters, microwave ovens and anything else that will conserve electricity. Gradually he turns things down or off, monitoring use with the meter, until satisfied with the drop in usage. Satisfaction is determined by the grower's anxiety level. For gardens this size, these methods are enough to avoid suspicion if records are examined. Large grows are another story.
Large gardens must mask electrical use. Clever growers will disguise their high use as legitimate. For approximately 6 months prior to starting the garden electrical use is gradually raised by overusing juice guzzling appliances before the garden goes into operation. Overuse is stopped as soon as the lights go on. This creates a gradual build up to a "flat line" in the usage chart that will make it impossible to tell when a garden was in operation. It can also prevent a legitimate call from the electric company checking to see if there is some kind of problem. Masking can help to make any usage records used in a criminal trial less detrimental by providing an alternate explanation for high use. Masking also keeps curious meter readers from becoming a problem.
A curious meter reader could turn into a rat if they're a drug warrior! Imagine reading a meter at two in the afternoon and it's spinning like a top with the house empty. Would it make you curious? Growers think it would. This problem is solved by learning the schedule for reading the meter and turning the lights off when they come. If a schedule cannot be determined the meter reader is denied access.
If the meter is in the basement growers simply do not answer the door when the meter reader comes to the house. If "caught" at home by the reader excuses are made to keep them out. If the meter is outdoors the property is fenced in and locked. Companies estimate bills, based on past use, when the meter cannot be read making it impossible to detect or prove sharp rises in consumption. One grower kept meter reader's out of the house for over 3 years before letting them in. She was just never home as far as the company was concerned. This is the best way of beating an electrical use inspection and is used by anyone growing with more than a 1000 watt system when possible. Big grow operators that set up apartments or rented houses for growing use it too, along with other methods.
Big grows, apartment size, can be easily masked. Gardens are started when the juice is turned on so that records will never show sharp rises in consumption. Since the apartment is used only for growing, consumption will look high yet normal. Big grows have another advantage in that most of the juice is being used during the flowering cycle for only 12 hours a day. (Running the lights at night for the flowering phase is another good method used to keep the meter reader uninterested.) Short vegetative stages, if any at all, under small light systems are used to avoid running lights 18 or 24 hours a day. High use is justified by having air conditioning, swimming pool heaters, electric water heaters or anything that uses a lot of juice in the house. Of course they are never used. These and other similar methods, used in combination if need be, defeat the practice of examining electric company usage records quite well.
Electrical consumption isn't the biggest risk factor facing growers but free growers practice the above methods and are not intimidated by the thought of the local narc takin' a peek at electric company records.
Is there anything in this piece that doesn't apply anymore and is there anything that should be added? In other words could someone still use this guide when they get started? Any thoughts and/or info appreciated.
stay free
flick
e2a- I know smart meters are around now but I'm really only interested in info having to do with the "dumb" ones talked about in this article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
Nym-Commands: -acksend
To: [email protected]
Newsgroups: alt.drugs.pot.cultivation
Subject: Security Tip #1- The Electric Company, You and the Boys in Blue
x-no-archive: yes
This is "Security Tips," excerpted from the book "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned." "Tips" is about the risks involved in cultivating marijuana for recreational, economic, or medicinal purposes. Examples of investigative
and arrest avoidance techniques illustrate these risks. These examples are by no means an endorsement of the criminal techniques discussed in this text.
"Criminal my ass."
AKA
Security Tip #1- The Electric Company, You and the Boys in Blue
Electric company records examination is the most well known investigative technique the authorities use to bust cultivators. In "Marijuana – The Law and You" Jeffrey Steinborn writes, "Examination of power consumption records has become a common investigative tool since indoor cultivation relies heavily on electricity." In "Marijuana Law" author Richard Glen Boire gives the text of an officer's affidavit for a search warrant that includes a statement about high electrical usage. Prior to the affidavits preparation the officer had contacted the electric company and found that use by the suspected grower was four times higher than his neighbors. In the January 92' issue of High Times the article "Making Sinse of the '90s" includes excerpts from The Pennsylvania Crime Commission's 1991 Annual Report on Drug Use in Pennsylvania. As possible investigative techniques this report suggests that police "Obtain suspect's power bills for the last six months to a year" and " Educate utility companies and establish a contact person within the company." Few dispute that this is common practice in some areas, but the extent to which it is used throughout the US is unknown. The use of electric company records as evidence by law enforcement is not a myth, legend, or hype designed to frighten potential growers. This evidence can and will be used. With this in mind, free growers take precautions to
nullify this investigative practice.
The good news for growers is that search warrants are not granted based solely on evidence of a sharp rise in, or unusually high electrical consumption. Better news is that usage record examination is easily defeated by your hero and mine the indoor weed wizards.
Because of electricity concerns, growers no longer run big operations on one site. Instead they use many small gardens. Even with smaller gardens, growers take precautions. Gardens using 400 watts or less should have very relaxed caretakers when it comes to this problem because electrical consumption for a garden with 400 watts or less is not an issue. (Many growers feel safe with up to 1000 watt systems running 12 hours a day many with 2 or 3 depending on the site.) Free growers keep two things in mind; avoid detection through electrical use and prevent usage records from becoming evidence against them in court if ever busted.
The first thing a grower does to combat this investigative tool is get a feel for their daily electrical usage. This is easily done by reading the electric meter and averaging out daily usage for a week with the garden lights and equipment off. Lights and equipment are turned on while usage is monitored for an additional week to calculate another average. This enables him to know the approximate increase in consumption before taking the next steps.
Grower's with 1000 watts or less will conserve on their electrical use to compensate for the addition of garden lights. Cautious gardeners turn down juice drawing appliances like refrigerators, electric heaters or water heaters, pool heaters, microwave ovens and anything else that will conserve electricity. Gradually he turns things down or off, monitoring use with the meter, until satisfied with the drop in usage. Satisfaction is determined by the grower's anxiety level. For gardens this size, these methods are enough to avoid suspicion if records are examined. Large grows are another story.
Large gardens must mask electrical use. Clever growers will disguise their high use as legitimate. For approximately 6 months prior to starting the garden electrical use is gradually raised by overusing juice guzzling appliances before the garden goes into operation. Overuse is stopped as soon as the lights go on. This creates a gradual build up to a "flat line" in the usage chart that will make it impossible to tell when a garden was in operation. It can also prevent a legitimate call from the electric company checking to see if there is some kind of problem. Masking can help to make any usage records used in a criminal trial less detrimental by providing an alternate explanation for high use. Masking also keeps curious meter readers from becoming a problem.
A curious meter reader could turn into a rat if they're a drug warrior! Imagine reading a meter at two in the afternoon and it's spinning like a top with the house empty. Would it make you curious? Growers think it would. This problem is solved by learning the schedule for reading the meter and turning the lights off when they come. If a schedule cannot be determined the meter reader is denied access.
If the meter is in the basement growers simply do not answer the door when the meter reader comes to the house. If "caught" at home by the reader excuses are made to keep them out. If the meter is outdoors the property is fenced in and locked. Companies estimate bills, based on past use, when the meter cannot be read making it impossible to detect or prove sharp rises in consumption. One grower kept meter reader's out of the house for over 3 years before letting them in. She was just never home as far as the company was concerned. This is the best way of beating an electrical use inspection and is used by anyone growing with more than a 1000 watt system when possible. Big grow operators that set up apartments or rented houses for growing use it too, along with other methods.
Big grows, apartment size, can be easily masked. Gardens are started when the juice is turned on so that records will never show sharp rises in consumption. Since the apartment is used only for growing, consumption will look high yet normal. Big grows have another advantage in that most of the juice is being used during the flowering cycle for only 12 hours a day. (Running the lights at night for the flowering phase is another good method used to keep the meter reader uninterested.) Short vegetative stages, if any at all, under small light systems are used to avoid running lights 18 or 24 hours a day. High use is justified by having air conditioning, swimming pool heaters, electric water heaters or anything that uses a lot of juice in the house. Of course they are never used. These and other similar methods, used in combination if need be, defeat the practice of examining electric company usage records quite well.
Electrical consumption isn't the biggest risk factor facing growers but free growers practice the above methods and are not intimidated by the thought of the local narc takin' a peek at electric company records.
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{I'm not really interested in the folks who have permission to grow I'm interested in those of us that are still outlaws}.
