back to article Stench of confiscated dope overwhelms Catalan cop shop

Cops in the Catalan town of Olot are feeling the effects of 2,000 confiscated marijuana plants dumped in their station's basement garage, which they reckon are seriously affecting their law enforcement performance. According to The Local, an official Mossos d'Esquadra union complaint (in Catalan) reports an "unbearable smell" …

  1. oldtaku Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Oh yeah, this is just terrible. These 4000 marijuana plants are reaaaally bumming out our officers, man. Why, we can hardly work with these 3000 marijuana plants and it's soooo unpleasant, dude. 'Who will rid me of this troublesome pot?' they cry. These 2000 plants are a total bummer.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Can the odor of unheated cannabis even cause anybody to get high? These cops are just spreading propaganda.

      1. Crazy Operations Guy

        Its more than possible. Its a common problem in Marijuana dispensaries. THC itself is an oil that can evaporate at room temperature, it just does so at a relatively low rate, but when you have thousands of plants all emitting a tiny amount of vapor each...

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Or they could have left then in the ground and spent time catching real criminals, like corrupt politicians etc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I guess no youth has ever smoked skunk from an early age and then gone on to murder people due to mental health issues?

      http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/cannabis.aspx

      1. Elmer Phud

        Ah, we forget the way that many mental issues only arrive in late adolescence?

        They are not brought on by cannabis -- they will arrive anyway if yer DNA is that way inclined, the only thing that actually links is the age grouping.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "They are not brought on by cannabis "

          Err yes, some of them are. Perhaps you should learn to use google a bit better.

          Let me help:

          http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/cannabis.aspx

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @dopebashers

            I get that you guys might not think that a plant is so harmless... but is anything when ingested from a young age?

            Smoking cigarettes can cause cancer (among other things). Drinking booze can cause stomach/liver issues further down the line.

            Even video games can cause addiction.

            The point I am making is that there is a large percentage of the population that this plant is harmless for. And for those people they can use it.. or not, with pretty much no ill affects or mental disorders.

            Now, you could argue that some of those people had pre-existing mental issues that had not surfaced fully yet, or that they were aware of the issue and were using the weed to self medicate.

            To say that this stuff causes the mental disorder is a bit irresponsible. As the same people could never have touched the skunk and then one day dropped some acid and had a mental breakdown off that.

            There is such a mental stigma towards this plant that we have not fully been able to understand their effects on the human body (hell, we don't even fully understand that yet!). So to tout reefer madness as a reason that it is the deamon weed and it should be banned is crazy. What we need is more research into it to better understand this wonder plant.

            Perhaps we will find that only certain strains set people off while other strains in fact help people. Who knows.

            But until we stop just flat out saying "ohh this stuff is soo bad, we must protect everyone from it and demonize it" while sitting there chugging on a cold one (which, IMO alcohol is in fact a drug) and smoking a pack, then we will never know.

            I'l get me coat, it's the one with the pack of blunts in the pocket.

            1. gotes
              Pint

              Re: @dopebashers

              "Alcohol's not a drug, it's a drink"

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: @dopebashers

              "What we need is more research into it to better understand this wonder plant."

              Wonder plant? You really need to ease off a bit. And how much more research do you want? Its been researched for 40 years

              If you want to keep smoking weed to get whacked out thats your choice, but don't turn it into some sort of intellectual position.

              As for alcohol being a drug, yes it is. And you might have noticed that plenty of countries ban it. However the genie is firmly out of the bottle in the west so thats not going to happen here, but that doesn't mean it should be carte blanche for all other soft drugs.

              And on a minor note, cannabis smoke smells like distilled cabbage. Hardly pleasent.

              Go on potheads, mod me down again. Assuming you can get your hazy thought processes together for long enough to find the downvote button through the fug of smoke.

              1. Mike VandeVelde
                Boffin

                Re: @dopebashers

                40 years of research sure, but almost exclusively flailing around desperately hunting for any serious harm and coming up basically empty.

                http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/why-its-so-hard-scientists-study-pot

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: @dopebashers

                @boltar

                And the millions of people who use this plant medicinally are just trying to get "whacked out"?

                Or the fact that this plant has some pretty convincing evidence to prove it fights cancer, helps with seizures, migraines and a myriad of other ailments.

                This plant has been around for many more years than you have, and it will be here for many years after you are gone.

                You say that the genie is out of the bottle with alcohol... but again, booze has been around for a long time and it is not going away. Look at how prohibition ended. Not so well for the people waging that particular war.

                You will find that even in those countries that ban alcohol they still partake in it behind closed doors, in hotels. etc.. and if not worse things like Khat (amphetamine like).

                Point is, people crave an escape from reality. Be it for watching tv/movies, reading books, playing video games, drinking, facebook, drugs, religion... etc.. etc.. They will find a way to do it (and I bet you do too, but the difference between you and me is I am not a hypocrite about it). Telling them that they can't isn't going to stop it.

                I say good-day to you sir!

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: @dopebashers

                  "And the millions of people who use this plant medicinally are just trying to get "whacked out"?"

                  We're not talking medicinally. And plenty of medicines are harmful if taken recreationally which is why they're controlled and not bought from some scabby dealer out of a car window.

                  "This plant has been around for many more years than you have, and it will be here for many years after you are gone."

                  So have opium poppies. And?

                  "Point is, people crave an escape from reality. "

                  Most people escape as you say via books, films etc. Losers require something stronger such as drugs whether its cannabis, booze or whatever.

                  At the end of the day the law is what it is, not what you want it to be. Don't like it? Tough, most people are happy with it and believe it or not you're in a minority. If enough people - and I mean everyone , not just students and aging ex-hippies - wanted the law changed it would have been changed by now. So suck it up pal and stop whining like a baby.

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: @dopebashers

                    Tell me. Do you even know why it was made illegal in the first place? I am betting not. Just because something is law doesn't necessarily make it right.

                    And if you argue against that last point then you are effectively saying you think that it is right to allow Muslim countries to stone people to death, because that is their law and it is just tough for the people who disagree.

                    Ain't no wining here... I am more of a spirits kind of guy.

                  2. Triggerfish

                    Re: @Boltar

                    I think maybe you could do with a smoke or a drink mate, you seem a little angry, are you OK?

          2. Alan Brown Silver badge

            >> "They are not brought on by cannabis "

            > Err yes, some of them are.

            I've known quite a few people with mental health issues over the years and many of those from a relatively young age (grew up with some of them). Every single one who smokes cannabis and blames it on their mental health issues _already_ had issues before they started smoking the stuff.

            "Cannabis psychosis" only occurs in those who are vulnerable to such things in the first place and a lot of the time there's a family history of mental illness with or without psychoactive chemicals being involved.

            On a related note: 95+% of those who try heroin (or other opiates) _don't_ get addicted and can take it or leave it. The interesting thing is that most addicts seem to suffer a particularly bad reaction to it (allergy style) in the first encounter and also that most addicts are bouncing along a long path of addiction to _something_ through their lives (gambling, drugs, religion, etc - the behaviour tends to be the same obsessive thing)

      2. Captain DaFt

        "I guess no youth has ever smoked skunk from an early age and then gone on to murder people due to mental health issues?"

        If you're going to play that tired, old card, I might as well point out that 100% of all murderers, rapists, and people suffering severe psychosis all started out drinking milk.

      3. Triggerfish

        I guess no youth has ever eaten cheese and gone on to murdering either.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Or they could have left then in the ground and spent time catching real criminals"

      "Real criminals" here being of course being people who infringed what your idea of the law is. This might come as a shock to you but not everyone sees cannabis as quite so harmless as you apparently do.

  3. Khaptain Silver badge

    Up in smoke

    This should belong in a Cheech and Chong movie, or a fat Freddie cat comic, hilarious....

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    24 hour garage

    Have the local Pizzahut buckled under the strain yet?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Easy to solve..

    Have a garage sale!

    :)

    1. Lionel Baden

      Re: Easy to solve..

      they could pop them in zip lock bags, to stop the smell in the meantime :D

      1. Elmer Phud

        Re: Easy to solve..

        Bags with few grams in each one?

        1. Alan Brown Silver badge

          Re: Easy to solve..

          Never heard of "Space Bags" ? (google is your friend)

          They work pretty well at stuffing large bulky things into and minimising storage requirements. Just watch out for sharp edges.

  6. Haku
    Facepalm

    Have they not heard of this new fangled technology called plastic bags?

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Trollface

      That would mean they couldn't grab some before heading home.

    2. Chris G

      Whoa, Dude you're nicked

      From experience (at a friend's house) : can tell you a plastic bin liner will not hold the smell of Spanish home grown in.

      When the sticky resiny heads are fresh off the plant, there is no need to skin up. Just inhale the atmosphere, dudes/dudettes!

      1. Tom 38

        Re: Whoa, Dude you're nicked

        a plastic bin liner will not hold the smell of Spanish home grown

        You need higher quality bags. Standard "plastic bags" are made from low density polyethylene (LDPE), which is sufficient to hold solids/liquids but will happily allow small odour molecules through. You need much sturdier bags made out of Polypropylene, or my personal favourite, Kilner style flip top jars.

        Allegedly.

        1. Chris G

          Re: Whoa, Dude you're nicked

          Tom, that's a hell of a lot of kilner jars. My mates son just for a laugh planted about 8 seeds, by the end of the season there were three plants left. Two of them were around 8 ft high the third for reasons only known to itself was close to twelve ft.All three were female, covered in seed heads and could be smelt a hundred metres away.

          I really have no interest in smoking or imbibing anything other than the odd beer or a good wine but was happy to help bag this stuff up, two large black bags of the good stuff was the result.

          The cops here will allow three plants and a self consumption supply in the house, I can't imsgine even the laid back Ibiza cops turning a blind eye to this lot. After bagging it I was genuinely stoned just from the fumes.

          N.B. So far I haven' t become paranoid (well, any more than normal) or killed anyone.

  7. Crisp
    Coat

    In other news...

    Doughnut sales in Olot have gone through the roof.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: In other news...

      I guess they can't get Oreos than?

  8. leon clarke

    External weed bins

    ...might be found to have the additional advantage of being self-emptying

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just light it and inhale ..

    .. and soon it no longer matters ..

  10. Scroticus Canis
    Facepalm

    It'll never dry properly...

    ...if left on the floor like that.

  11. Ole Juul

    general malaise?

    general malaise consistent with "having smoked something illegal"

    OK, I admit that my brains are blown by past indulgences, but as I recall, "malaise" is not exactly consistent with, like I mean you know.

    1. Cardinal

      Re: general malaise?

      Yeah, quite the contrary if I remember right...though I can't really remember if I remember right....

      1. Cardinal

        Re: general malaise?

        'Memories aren't made of this' - What a song!

        1. Peter Simpson 1
          Happy

          Re: general malaise?

          Sweet dreams are made of these.

          Who am I to disagree?

  12. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Devil

    General malaise

    They're complaining that it's stopping the riot squad going out and hitting everything in sight?

    1. Captain DaFt

      Re: General malaise

      "Dooood... They haven't shot a cow in weeks!"

  13. Bottle_Cap
    Joke

    The police union complaint says of the pungent whiff of illicit high: "What will people who come to report incidents think when they enter the police stations and smell such a strong odour?"

    Well probs - 'Hey that'd be a great place for a kebab van'!

    1. s5PGmU
      Holmes

      "What will people who come to report incidents think when they enter the police stations and smell such a strong odour?" Our police officers are so cool, man!

      /Sherlock needs something in his pipe.

      1. tony2heads

        Sherlock

        was it the gateway for his cocaine habit (7% solution)?

  14. Elmer Phud

    Space saver

    What's needed is a waste cardboard compactor to squeeze it all together very tightly.

    Then it can be stored in a corner and forgotten about for a while . . .

  15. Amorous Cowherder
    Facepalm

    Oh FFS, how stupid are these cops?

    So they don't sell plastic bags or sealable plastic containers down the local version of Homebase then? Are they really that stupid...then again they've been breathing in that shite for several days that might explain it I suppose!

  16. Fibbles
    Facepalm

    Psychosomatic

    OMG! Contact high!

  17. hatti

    No effect on the police at all, they just drove around a bit and bought some hotdogs and doughnuts.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How Do They Know?

    "consistent with "having smoked something illegal'"

    How do they know what it is like to have smoked something illegal?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Meh

      Re: How Do They Know?

      from observing you, allegedly

  19. Midnight

    "The point I am making is that there is a large percentage of the population that this plant is harmless for. And for those people they can use it.. or not, with pretty much no ill affects or mental disorders."

    Their upstairs neighbours, on the other hand, have to deal with the ill effects of living in a house that frequently smells of six dead skunks doused in diesel fuel. This can lead to ill effects such as feelings of murderous rage, but you're going to have to bury your head a little deeper in the sand before you can claim that there is no explanation for this.

    "But until we stop just flat out saying "ohh this stuff is soo bad, we must protect everyone from it and demonize it" while sitting there chugging on a cold one (which, IMO alcohol is in fact a drug) and smoking a pack, then we will never know."

    Yes, we will never know. As in "Everybody within a hundred metre radius will never know that you are drinking a beer unless they happen to come close enough to see it" or "Why does the park always smell like a cross between roadkill and a high-school parking lot? And how can the idiots who cause that really claim to not smell anything? I guess we will never know."

    The problem isn't that The Man is trying to keep grass down, it's not that the Big Pharma medical establishment doesn't want free and natural competition, it's not that the world-destroying wood and paper industry is afraid of the magical powers of Hemp(tm), it's that burning that crap creates one of the most horrific smells you'll find outside of a slaughterhouse.

    But that's just my opinion. Your reality may differ from mine.

    1. Triggerfish

      I'll agree it stinks, the prevelance of skunk is the problem there, other weed or hash tends to be less offensive, unfortunately its harder to get as its easier to grow skunk than smuggle weed across borders.

  20. Steve Evans

    I believe there is a great invention for this problem...

    Plastic bags!

    In fact, given that this is evidence for prosecution, you'd rather hope the evidence would be secured and tagged, not just thrown in a pile in the garage!

  21. WereWoof
    Go

    Send it all to me and I will dispose of it in a series of small carefully controlled fires over a period of time.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      If it was legal in my jurisdiction to do so, I'd like to do some "peer-reviewed" scientific testing of it with your assistance.

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