Eastside Defender

KSTP-TV has the story:

Police pulled hundreds of pot plants from a duplex at 1815 Johnson St. in northeast Minneapolis Tuesday night and arrested Andrew Hankee, 33, without incident.

"This is about half of 234 plant bust and had a street value of $250,000," said Officer Jeff Carter.

Every neighbor 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke to say they were stunned watching police pull grow lights and marijuana plants from the basement of the home.

"Never knew a thing, never saw a thing taken out, nothing taken in. No drug people going over, nothing," said stunned neighbor Julie Frisco.

Stories like this appear several times a year, usually suburban “grow ops”. Like this one, the neighbors almost without exception say they had no idea. It seems to be trouble with utilities (usually stealing electricity) that leads to discovery and arrest.

Something doesn’t square up for me. I see how the dime-bag streetcorner hustlers are a harmful to a neighborhood. But perhaps that’s more a problem of poverty than a drug problem. Maybe this guy supplied the street dealers, and he shares blame for the harm caused. But I’ve known far too many good, contributing citizens who like to use cannabis. I don’t think they’re getting it from the guys on the corners.

If the stuff can be grown with such a small footprint that even next-door neighbors have no idea and no complaint, and it’s used by people who raise happy families and lead productive lives, maybe we should re-think our drug laws.