Did the Brooklyn US attorney lie, use children to demonize marijuana growers?

A friend of mine pointed me to an article in the New York Daily News about a firefighter who was caught growing marijuana [link]. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love reading these stories because you can see where the person messed up. You can try to avoid those kinds of mistakes. In this case, it was an anonymous tip! You can't always tell with these kinds of tips. However, if police didn't pull off a raid and picked the guy up while he was there, they had to have been tipped off by someone who know about it personally. In other words, he broke rule #1 of marijuana growing, don't tell anyone! Even I'll go down by that one some day. But, what can human beings do but be human and trust their friends.

But, that's not really worthy of a whole blog post from me. What is worthy of discussion are the comments by Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Soumya Dayananda.

Patrick Murray was not only running an illegal drug operation, but he was also endangering three young kids living above the drug den, exposing them to harmful fumes from powerful chemical fertilizers and carbon dioxide gas, said Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Soumya Dayananda.

This is what we need to expose more - these government officials who use children and their position of authority to lie and demonize other marijuana growers. They create this air of danger around marijuana growing to discourage others from trying to grow. The more I expose these intentions the better others can judge for themselves the future of marijuana in the United States.

So, what's so bad about her comments? What do I, a marijuana grower, see that mainstream America may not see?

First of all, let's discuss these harmful chemical fertilizers. A typical chemical fertilizer, or PLANT FOOD, used in marijuana growing is General Hydroponics Flora Series. Go ahead and check it out. It's the stuff I use.
Is it dangerous? NO!
Is it harmful? NO!
Does it even give off any fumes? I can put my nose right in the bottle and I wouldn't smell a thing.. NO!

So what's in these chemical fertilizers? Look, I have a bottle right here of some GH FloraGro from the Flora series. 9% of the chemical includes nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium in salt form diluted in 91% water. How dangerous is it? Well, it's all the things you'd find a plant using for photosynthesis. I wouldn't drink the stuff straight. It's plant food and I'm more into steak and potatoes. Sorry PETA!

And, there are other brands of chemical fertilizers including MiracleGro, Advanced Nutrients, Botanicare, B.C. Hydroponic Nutrients, Dutch Master and many more! Just look for the N-P-K to see all the ingredients of these "child endangering" plant food formulas.

I hope that wraps up the mystery of the dangerous chemical fertilizer fumes. Where's Scooby Doo? I have a snack for him.

Wait.. there could have been fumes from some place else? Right?

It's possible that the fume claim isn't a complete lie but I highly doubt those fumes came from that grow operation. The clue here is the use of Carbon Dioxide. How are the children in danger from carbon dioxide use in marijuana growing? Well, they aren't but here's EXACTLY why that IS the case. Carbon dioxide is odorless and it's heavier than air. You wouldn't smell it and even if it were in use in the basement, it wouldn't have risen upward.

But, that's not the reason why I believe fumes did NOT come from that grow operation.

See, to use carbon dioxide in marijuana growing, you have to maintain the levels, measured in parts per million or PPMs. Normal CO2 levels in the air is around 300 to 500 PPMs which has always been good enough for growing plants. You'd need 1200-1500 PPMs in a grow room to be effective. Anything over 2000 PPMs has a negative effect.

To maintain these levels, you need an airtight, self contained marijuana grow room because CO2, being a gas, has a funny way of slipping through cracks really fast. Providing CO2 for 100 plants is expensive. I very much doubt that someone who would go through the trouble of setting up 100 plants and providing CO2 for all of these plants didn't think about sealing the room as tightly as possible.

You want more proof that the "fume danger" is a lie.. here it comes.

Marijuana stinks (in a good way). Growing marijuana stinks. Any marijuana grower worth his salt knows that marijuana is very fragrant (much better word). Even if you're new, you'll find out quickly that it is a definite giveaway. So, as a grower, you'd want to mask the scent or, what we learn to do, clean the air. Even in a sealed room, you have to get in and get out. You don't want that smell to get out. 100 plants gives off a lot of scent.

If Patrick Murray invested in CO2, he definitely invested in odor control FIRST. CO2 is the LAST thing you should consider when running a grow room. It's expensive and most growers consider it unnecessary. It isn't worth it! So, it would be outrageous to believe that this guy didn't invest in odor control?

So, WHERE IS THE DANGER TO CHILDREN?

These children were in NO danger at all! Those chemical fertilizers are possibly concentrated, not powerful. If it were concentrated, it would be pure salts, just add water (like Kool Aid for plants). Remember, it's plant food, not terrorist bomb making materials. Patrick Murray is not Timothy McVeigh or Osama bin Laden! He's just a marijuana grower who also happens to be a firefighter.

The greatest threat to the people of this nation doesn't come from marijuana growers. It comes from our own government officials who lie to the American people - "Weapons of Mass Destruction" is no different from the boogeyman which is no different than Patrick Murray, the child endangering marijuana grower. None of it exists.

Attorney Soumya Dayananda will have her day in court to prove the child endangerment story she told reporter, John Marzulli. But, if she's a smart attorney, she'll stay away from those charges and stick to what she knows she can win. However, the damage from her lying has already been done. Countless people will see that article and further demonize marijuana growers. They won't do the research. They won't ask the important questions. They won't get the truth. From now on, marijuana growers will be seen as dangerous because of her Republican-like fear-mongering comments. The worst thing Soumya Dayananda could have done to the people of New York City was make them fear nothing.

We have to be above THAT influence.

I look forward to keeping up with this case. I'll put up any updates I find. If I'm wrong about this child endangerment, I'll admit it here first because it's something we marijuana growers should keep in mind for today and future. We're not criminals or dangerous. I don't know any marijuana growers that want to hurt children.