Espoo mother and her sons take a leaf from Weeds

Single-parent family intended to make a living out of growing cannabis

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A single mother in Espoo and her two underage sons intended to make the content of a popular TV-series a reality, and began growing cannabis in the home for sale.
      The attempt foundered after a couple of months when police got wind of the venture after one of the boys was found in possession of some of the drug.
      The mother and her boys had watched the series Weeds, starring Mary-Louise Parker in the role of the pot-growing suburban mum, on Finnish TV, and had picked up the storyline as a business idea.
      The three acquired some cannabis seeds and set up a grow operation in the sauna of their house.
      The activities began at about the beginning of the year. Once the crop was getting ready, the establishment of marketing channels began.
     
The family team had a clear division of labour. Mother ordered the seeds and growing equipment over the Internet, while one of the sons, apparently blessed with a green thumb, cared for the plants, and the other sold the finished product.
      The brothers had recruited at least one friend, and had consumed some of the marijuana themselves.
      The boys, who live in the south of Espoo, had only sold the pot to their friends, earning a few hundred euros in the early part of the year.
     
In police questioning the mother said that their initial aim was to get about EUR 200 a month.
      However, Jukka Paasio of the Espoo police says that the plans went further than that.
      “I would guess that if the operation had continued, it would have spread further."
      The grow-up was raided on May 1st. A police patrol first made note of a young boy smoking cigarettes at a camp fire. Five grammes of marijuana were found in his possession.
      The police raided the boy’s home. The mother and the other brother had been tipped off about the police suspicions, and the other son and a friend had tried to flee the police, carrying the grow lights with them.
     
In police questioning the mother had said that the reason for the operation was a shortage of money. The mother and the older son, who is above 15 years of age, are suspected of aggravated drug crime. The police found about ten marijuana plants in the family home.
      Paasio says that the mother and her sons have been very contrite, and are “beginning to understand the seriousness of their actions”.


Links:
  Weeds on the Internet Movie Database

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