Finland: Police Raid Garden Supply Store For ‘Promoting Cannabis’

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Photo: www.greenroofs.com
Believe it or not, you can grow stuff besides pot using hydroponic systems. But don’t try to tell that to the Finnish police.

​There was no marijuana discovered at the place. But a Finnish garden supply store has been raided by local police who claimed the operation is “deliberately promoting” the purchase and use of home cultivation supplies for growing cannabis.

According to Finnish legal experts, the cops are breaking new ground in trying to link hydroponic gardening equipment with illegal cultivation of marijuana. The question of whether merely selling hydroponic equipment is equal to “drug promotion” has no precedent in Finnish law, reports A. Rienstra at IceNews.
“The police are testing the boundaries,” said Matti Tolvanen, professor of criminal and procedural law at the University of Eastern Finland. “After all, selling knives is not illegal, even though they are used to commit homicides.”

Tolvanen argues that the primary use of any merchandise outweighs isolated incidents of illegal usage, and also questions whether the seller is ultimately aware of, or responsible for, the intentions of the buyer.
The business specializes in hydroponics, and sells equipment such as grow lights, growing chambers, ventilation systems, fertilizers, and timers.
Tampere, Finland police have also searched a number of homes belonging to customers of the garden supply store.
“We have found a significant amount of marijuana in the searches,” claimed Officer Jari Luoto.
Luoto said several people involved in the business have been detained, with several remanded under suspicion of the “promotion of drug-related crime.” The business appears to have closed down while police investigations continue.
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