The cannabusiness hunt is on

Edito. «From March to October, I've got the solution: tons of seeds for hectares of crops.».

If Tryo had indeed found the solution, it certainly didn’t fall on deaf ears. Starting in September, with the first outdoor harvests, cannabis growers became prime targets. To see this for yourself, just take a look at Google News and check out the extent of these «discoveries.».

A widespread culture

From a small plot of 4 plants in a cellar in northern France, to a crop of 300 plants in the Gard region, and including Île Héron in Nantes with its 120 plants, even Gilbert Montagné could see that home-grown cannabis cultivation is widespread throughout France and spans all age groups. Our thoughts go out to that man in his sixties who was quietly growing his 74 plants—for medical use, according to his statements—in his garden.

And that's not to mention the seizures, which are even more numerous—several hundred kilograms a week.

Obviously, the size of some grow operations raises questions. Is it for personal use or resale? Collective cultivation, Cannabis Club-style? The real answer is «it depends.» A crop of 50 plants doesn’t necessarily mean supplying an entire apartment building or a guy driving a Porsche Cayenne with stacks of cash. Whereas 10 plants might be grown solely for sale.

The big winner?

After the journalists« puns about the »success of cannabis« and the »fertility of the land,’ followed by the’self-congratulation by law enforcement (Belle Affaire, seriously??) that glorify their harvests of dangerous plants (it took at least one helicopter for 120 feet)—what’s left?

In the end, there will still be users who won’t get their fix. Where will these users turn to get their supply? The black market. So this war on personal cultivation has only one winner—always the same one—the very person these same law enforcement agencies are supposed to be fighting against.

This annual crackdown on cannabis plants and their owners could ultimately be summed up in a single image: bailing water from the Titanic with a bucket full of holes just as it begins to sink.

The only unknown is the date of the shipwreck.