Florida Criminal Lawyer Comments on New Marijuana Grow House Law

A new bill passed during the spring legislative session, House Bill 29, makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for landlords to permit tenants to connect utilities themselves. Judges are mandated to accept an unpermitted electrical junction as proof of intent to violate the law. Stealing utility services to manufacture a controlled substance such as marijuana is also now a first-degree misdemeanor.

Several weeks ago, investigators discovered a marijuana grow house in Lorida after an electrical transformer blew. Inside the house, they found 341 marijuana plants, grow lights CO2 generators, and other items. The tenant was charged with producing and trafficking of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A representative of Glades Electric estimates that over $80,000 worth of electricity was stolen. The diversion was wired so it appears that the house uses a normal amount of electricity when in actuality, the monthly bill should be around $2,000 per month. These grow houses cost the company over $1 million every year.

New grow house law targets landlords, Highlands Today, May 21, 2009
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