New(ish) to Finland

[missmook]

Hey all,

Moved here about six months ago from the States. Back there, where smoking, growing, etc is becoming legal everywhere I was making some happy chocolates and medicinal rubs. I had heard that hemp was legal here (mostly interested in the CBDs), but the language sites I've found say you can get in trouble for even considering growing. Looking for a bit of clarification about this. Also, in the States before legalization (and in states still not legal) it was rumored you could get busted by a spike in your electricity usage. Is there a risk from that here? Not sure I want to go to all the trouble of growing, but miss my chocolates.

[Iamnumber]

Lähetetty 9.8.2016 12:38:
Welcome to finland!

Using / possession without very very special permission from pain specialist >> illegal
growing cannabis with thc .. all ways illegal - cause for special mark on criminal record .. can cause issues with visas / right to access countries.

possession and/or ordering of seeds/growing equipment .. legal, but can still generate trouble .. like search of your home ..

PS.. Brace yourself for winter .. it can be a _REAL_ downer on mood ..
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Lisätty 9 minuutin jälkeen:

on getting busted..

my best estimate .. chances of getting busted on electricity use are somewhere between marginal and slim. very hard to say.

police dose not monitor electricity usage of general population. Electricity company collects the data. So the risk is that A) someone at company looks at your usage and B) cares enough to call cops.

Electricity use history can be used in court as evidence on volume and/or length of operation history .. thus giving estimate on total amount grown.

Special note compared to united states.. police can perform search on your house/car basically on whim - no written court order needed. red eyes / smell of cannabis have been used as a reason and court was ok with this..

[missmook]

Thanks for the reply! I've seemed to notice a general negative view towards cannabis and smoking here. Sure, I'll occasionally catch a whiff of it somewhere (I have yet built up the nerve to approach strangers in this scenario), but I kinda thought it would be easier to find..

Is there a much of a movement for legalization? It took me a while to realize that the English-only information out there is a bit outdated. One would think given the concerns around alcoholism and economic downturns there would be a movement to legalize.

[Hiisaajahemuli]

Lähetetty 9.8.2016 13:09:
Each year there's a couple initiatives for legalization. One that's well-made can gather up 20-40 thousand votes if I recall correctly, whereas a poorly made and advertised initiative is lucky to gather 10,000. It requires 50,000 votes for an initiative to get to the parliament for further processing.

Given the prevalent negative view cannabis growing is surprisingly common. (Using is obviously even more popular. Probably more than half the people have at least experimented.) By the police's estimates some cities have 5-10% of the population growing, although it's usually grown for friends and self rather than for making a profit. Toking circles tend to be closed, yet "hippies" are very well connected; if you make friends with one smoking person, you may find yourself with a few dozen new smoking buddies soon - based on my experiences of course.
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Lisätty 8 minuutin jälkeen:

Oh and then there's the Marijuana March of course, locally called Hamppumarssi ("the hemp march") that takes place almost every year.

[Iamnumber]

Movement to make cannabis legal is slowly building.. I would not hold my breath though.. Finland is quite the nanny state so such change will take a loong time.. medical use was allowed only few years back and the permits are still under lock and key.

There are petitions/addresses to be signed yearly that focus on legalization. None have yet gathered enough signatures to force parliament to handle the petition/address -- no guarantees anything would change but that is the first step.

[Dub kostaja]

Posted 14 Aug 2016 13:56:
I don't think cannabis will be legalized in Europe any day soon. You'll get over your dependency to cannabis before that.

Weed is becoming more and more socially acceptable and generally I'd say it is as acceptable as you can comfortably make it for yourself. Say, if you're a highly paid professional, don't pull out a huge joint in the company Christmas party. But if you're a student, roll it, walk the respectable distance (0-100 yards depending on your host) and light it up. You'll most likely be joined by some company, whether you want it or not.

Fuck it, you're an American, you won't be judged by Finnish standards anyhow, everyone knows it's more okay in the States anyhow, so you won't be categorized as a pothead loser quite so quick (you're not a white Rastafarian, are you?)

Getting caught smoking weed by the police -> slap on the wrist or a small fine. Getting caught growing weed for yourself for the first time -> a fine that wont condemn you to financial servitude for the rest of your life. Do a little research and find out for yourself if your alien status would be jeopardized by getting conviction with a fine.

The trick is not getting caught growing, which is easy, if you grow only 1-3 plants at a time.

A few years back, a grow shop was busted in a huge operation and their customers got hassled. This ended in no convictions for the shop for selling lamps and aqua systems etc. that can be used for growing weed, but it was a big embarrassment for the police. This tested the then-new law of "even considering growing" or "advancing or preparing for a drug crime" and the end result was positive for the cannabis community.

So I wouldn't worry too much about getting your gear. Use cash, visit the brick and mortar store and buy your lamps before the seeds, if you're uncertain. Did the police follow you home? No? You're good to buy the seeds. I've always ordered them from big Dutch companies and to my own home address. I have since quit growing and don't know the situation right now, but if in doubt - order to a friend's address or keep your own address clean for a while. I think the repercussions would be minor if any, if customs gets involved and you don't have anything growing (see above -> you'd still manage).

If someone thinks they'll get busted growing for their electric bill (in Finland), they... should consider toking a little less, maybe? Too much of that weed stuff can make you pretty paranoid.

I hope you find this helpful, not just patronizing drivel from a sarcastic cunt.

DK
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Lisätty 5 minuutin jälkeen:

Oh yeah, people sell seeds on this forum too, so if you live in a big city, you should be able to get some without using mail at all.

DK

[Iamnumber]

Getting caught smoking weed by the police -> slap on the wrist or a small fine. Getting caught growing weed for yourself for the first time -> a fine that wont condemn you to financial servitude for the rest of your life. Do a little research and find out for yourself if your alien status would be jeopardized by getting conviction with a fine.

The trick is not getting caught growing, which is easy, if you grow only 1-3 plants at a time.

A few years back, a grow shop was busted in a huge operation and their customers got hassled. This ended in no convictions for the shop for selling lamps and aqua systems etc. that can be used for growing weed, but it was a big embarrassment for the police. This tested the then-new law of "even considering growing" or "advancing or preparing for a drug crime" and the end result was positive for the cannabis community.

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Lisätty 5 minuutin jälkeen:

Oh yeah, people sell seeds on this forum too, so if you live in a big city, you should be able to get some without using mail at all.

DK

My understandin is that the fine is small but the mark on record can cause major issues to ones live. ie .. trouble traveling to countries.

police/ procecuter has since (busting the shop) used 'preparing for drug crime' (based on info on this forum) as a reason to procecute individual persons .. no results on how the case(s) went down.

PS.. considering the post apocalyptic world of 'walking dead' and need for medicin AND the fact that 'stable' communities have been presen.. why o why have they not grown cannabis? IMHO.. in that situation cannabis would pop up quite frequently but writers are taking the easy path and skirting around the issue.

[Pentti]

After 2 or so fines they can take your driving license and you will have to get monitored for some with your expense to get it back.
Failing the tests is not evidense to get you convicted, but you do not get license back.

You cannot be forced to take drug test if you were not driving and drug tests are
not vidense if no dwi.

Rutine traffic stops contain alcohol beeathalyser test, but
no drug saliva tests have been done randomly yet as far as i know. If you drive abnormally
or smell hemp they can put you to the test. The test is not pricese and brushing teeth and licrice candy has
caused fake negatives.

If you fail the instant test or refuse they take blodworks
witch show seversl weeks.

Until recently this has been enough for DWI comviction. Recently supreme court decided it is not
Ok to convict dwi for someone who had smoked the week before. What comes out of the desission
remains to be seen.

Having narcotics conviction can cause you not be able to work with kids or traffic.

Empoyers can force new workers to drug tests. Existent workers cannot be tested randomly,
except very few exceptions.

[Tulintakas]

Toking circles tend to be closed, yet "hippies" are very well connected; if you make friends with one smoking person, you may find yourself with a few dozen new smoking buddies soon - based on my experiences of course.

Specifically looking for people who have weed might be a mistake. Look for people you like instead.

And then one day, you'll have plenty of chocolate.

[missmook]

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm still a bit confused by the laws here, I can pick up a bag of hemp seeds at any health food store, and I'm expected to not even try to grow a few plants? I've read that the hemp grown in Finland is guaranteed to have low THC, but what about the CBDs?

[Iamnumber]

Lähetetty 24.8.2016 20:24:

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm still a bit confused by the laws here, I can pick up a bag of hemp seeds at any health food store, and I'm expected to not even try to grow a few plants? I've read that the hemp grown in Finland is guaranteed to have low THC, but what about the CBDs?

Hemp seesds at local store are finola with 0 thc.
Growing finola is leagal (but can still cause major inconveniece as i assume any finola found in house will be treated as drugs and you will have to prove you are innocent.). I do not know if finola has beneficial medical charracteristics. Any thc >> it is a drug
Thc and cbd are more related to strain and length of flowering than location.

Ps. Sorry for typos.
Pps. Watced docs regarding people getting 12 years or more hard time for hemp in USA (80 or 90s). Nothing to that extent here.
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Lisätty 42 minuutin jälkeen:

Thc inc. seeds are (to my upmost understanding) legal to order and bring to finland. Still.. police /customs might visit you aftrwards.

Selling thc inc. Seed can get on in trouble as per assisting and preparing narcotic crime. Based on fact that no seedstores in finland + understanding from forum info

[Tulintakas]

https://www.nirvanashop.com/en/autoflow ... seeds.html

Blue Mystic Autoflower fem. € 25,00

Genetics (Flo x Afghani) x Blueberry
Plant Type Predominantly Indica
Cultivation Indoor as well as Outdoor
Plant Height Short
Average Yield 200 - 300 g/m² in SOG
Flowering Period 7 - 9 weeks
Seeds per pack 5
THC Medium
CBD High
Effect+ Sleepy Relaxed Euphoric
Flavor+ Berry Blueberry Woody
Medical+ Stress Depression Lack Appetite
Medical Use No

[Jack The Reaper]

Posted 23.9.2016 0:26:
Finnish police does not give a fuck about your grows.

You have basically four get-out-of-jail cards, only on the fifth time when you get caught you might get prisontime, otherwise its just fines.

You can grow 100-400 plants without worry.

If you gonna grow, why not grow a proper strain? If you gonna build a grow area / box / tent, don't waste it on some finola.

-J
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Lisätty 3 minuutin jälkeen:

PS. Even if you get caught, they wont still give a fuck. They wont come back to your place to check if you started growing again. They only come if someone calls them. They are strapped for funding, so they just don't have the resources.

-J

[Chiller]

[size=9][color=#865432]Posted 23.9.2016 0:26:[/color][/size]
Finnish police does not give a fuck about your grows.

You have basically four get-out-of-jail cards, only on the fifth time when you get caught you might get prisontime, otherwise its just fines.

You can grow 100-400 plants without worry.

If you gonna grow, why not grow a proper strain? If you gonna build a grow area / box / tent, don't waste it on some finola.

[i]-J[/i]

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[size=9][color=#865432]Lisätty 3 minuutin jälkeen:[/color][/size]

PS. Even if you get caught, they wont still give a fuck. They wont come back to your place to check if you started growing again. They only come if someone calls them. They are strapped for funding, so they just don't have the resources.

[i]-J[/i]

Are u telling that fift time is something To worry about, even if amounth of plants has been small?

[username420]

MMMM edibles!!! Those chocolates sound good...
Welcome to Finland and the HF.

[username420]

I don't mean to double post, but here is no edit button for my last one. Mismook, how in the world did you manage to even make an account on here? Google translate was useless and I failed twice after 30 minutes+ of concentrating even though I know exactly what I'm doing and those questions are such elementary basic knowledge.

[Jack The Reaper]

If you don't get any paper jail (e.g. fines only) from your small grows, even on the 5th time there is nothing to worry about (if that one doesn't happen to be a bigger grow).

If you are really paranoid, always keep under 50 plants and you are fine.

-J