CHAPTER 32
Tomatoes
Flat #3
1980`s
DISCLAIMER THINGY
At the end of this story is a complete breakdown of the dos and don’ts of using cannabis as a recreational drug, it covers the law and the effects, plus any FAQ`s you may have and been too stoned to ask.
It is your choice, but i would suggest you don't use any recreational drug, from a personal view after seeing some people from back in the day and how it has effected them so many years later.
I’d leave it alone if I was you.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
( Photo 1 ) . The flat in Nolton Road Bridgend, this photo was taken in 2018, nothing much has changed, the access to the rear of the flat and B.U.S. workshop is on the right side of the Kebab shop which was once the post office.
Wobble and Fat Mike shared a flat at the top of Nolton street in Bridgend, they rented this flat for quite a while.
The flat was in an excellent position for all the amenities that were important to my circle of friends.
It became a meeting place and was used as a venue for may parties over the period of time, that they both lived there.
The flat was situated in an excellent place for bikers.
Directly opposite there was the Suzuki dealer ( Two wheel Services ) with Merve the swerve, the head salesman rubbing his hands together in anticipation of ripping off some newbie biker.
And a little way cross the traffic lights on Ewenny road was ( Leslie Griffiths Motors) aka PANS, the main Honda dealer for the area run by the old man of biking Hayden Rees and behind the flats opposite two wheels was a workshop called B.U.S. ( Bridgend Used Spares ) this was where PJ and Mike Keen worked for a time, the workshop was basically a motorcycle scrap yard, where PJ and Mike would strip down crashed bikes for spares, and fix customers bikes just like any other garage.
This bike garage come scrappy was owned by Hayden Rees as a sideline from Pans bike shop, Hayden wanted to call the bike scrappy ( Bridgend Used Motorcycle Spares ) which is a good idea, but when he laid the initials down, it looked like this ( B.U.M.S. ) , he decided not to use the ( motorcycle ) part in the workshops name, as it may have given the wrong impression to some people.
There was off-road parking directly behind the flats, there was also a bottom flat which was on the road level, and directly behind the post office.
The bottom flat had a number of tenants at different times over the years, which included Joss Batey and John Hopkins, all at separate times, both were bikers and part of the same group of circle of friends.
( Photo 2 ) . Fat Mike aka ( Michael Layton Davies ) photo taken outside the front of the Plough and Harrow pub in Monknash.
The flats were in walking distance of all the fast food out-lets like the takeaway Chinese just down the road and with two Chippys, Ginos on Cowbridge road and the Ranch in Nolton street, And most importantly the pubs like the Old Castle and the welcome to town in Nolton street.
And what follows is one of the many stories that happened during the time that wobble and mike were renting the flat.
There was a break-in at the bike shop across the road at Two Wheel Services the previous evening after the bike shop staff had left for the night.
Someone had kicked the door into the upstairs store room, this room which was separated from the main showroom, and was used for storage of clothing stock and other bits and pieces that there was no room for in the downstairs stores, which mainly had bike spare parts.
The door to the upstairs stores was very flimsy, it was more like a shed door, one quick kick and it would have opened with ease, even if an eight-year old had kicked it.
The thief’s only stole a couple of leather jackets, so it looked like a opportunist break in by some youngsters, there was no attempt to enter the showroom where the bikes where all kept, and nothing else was touched, so not a very serious crime, but the local police were informed and so had to make an effort to investigate the break-in.
The flat that the guys lived in had a bay window that overlooked the front of the shop.
Fat mike was alone in the flat when the two uniformed beat cops knocked on the door, they were doing the stranded thing after a burglary by knocking on doors of nearby houses that had tenants just to see if anyone had heard or seen anything, and the flat was in an excellent position to view what had happened the night before.
So the cooper investigating the crime knocked onto the flats front door, Mike answered the door, expecting it to be of his friends.
The coppers, asked if mike had seen anything.
Now mike could have been short and sweet and could have answered that he had seen anything or he was sleeping or not even there, but what mike did was to invite the coppers into the flat, so they could take a look out of the bay window down onto the shop across the road.
So while the coppers were in the room, one copper asked mike the same questions again that they asked by the door and the other copper walked around the flat having a good look in every corner, there were helmets and other bike gear all around the flat that belonged to both mike and wobble.
There were always helmets sitting on the overly large fireplace.
Then the same wandering copper went to the bay widow to take a look at the shop front from the flats position.
There was nothing wrong with the copper taking a look, it would have been part of his investigation, except for the fact that mike had forgotten that there was a large Cannabis plant soaking up the sunlight in the window.
The copper peered out of the window at Two Wheel Services, and then he looked down at the plant directly beneath him, there was also an illegal CB radio fixed to the windowsill, the government authorities didn’t like these radio units, stating that they used illegal radio bandwidths and interfered with emergency wave lengths, which turned out to be complete Bollocks.
The copper totally missed the CB radio or chose to ignore it.
He looked at the plant with more interest, then he picked up one of the leaves, and held it in his hand, he then turned around to face mike who was still talking to the other copper and said “ who does this belong too “ pointing at the large bushy green plant.
Mike said “ what, the radio“.
The copper said “ don’t be a fool boy, this plant in front of me “ the copper stepped to one side so mike had a good view of the potted plant, and pointed once more at the plant and said, “ this one “ in a very dry and annoyed voice.
The cannabis plant was not hard to miss, it had been lovingly feed and watered, and every day it was placed in the front bay window to capture has much sunlight as possible, so it was a quite large and busy specimen.
Mike’s answer to this question by the copper was a classic.
He replied, “ Ho, the tomato plant, you mean “.
The copper just looked at mike and said with a here we go again impression his face face, “ you know full well as I do that this not a tomato plant, it is obviously a cannabis plant “.
Mike said “ is it, I didn’t know that, I was wondering why there were no tomatoes growing on it “.
The other copper join in the conversation and said “ so this is your plant “.
The police attention, had shifted from them making inquiries about the break-in at the bike shop, and instead to the alleged tomato plant.
Mike could only do what he thought was the right thing to do and said “ its not mine, it's my flat mates, Steve Jones ( aka Wobble ), it’s his plant, I know nothing about it, he told me it was tomato plant “.
( Photo 3 ) . Wobble aka ( Steve Jones ), photo taken on one of the ( behind the vine ) rally’s in Essex England.
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I always imagine the copper after first spotting the Tomato/ Cannabis plant saying something like " ELO, ELO, ELO WHATS ALL THIS THEN ", but sadly he never said anything like that, but thinking that he may have said that puts me in a happy place, well it makes me smile.
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Wobble had just come back from holiday, and at the time was down at his mothers house in Sarn.
The police tracked him down, and when they found him at his mother house, they took him away to the police station in Bridgend for questioning.
Wobbles mother was tamping ( angry ) with the coppers, she had just made wobble dinner, and she said to the coppers “ you had better bring him back here when you have finished with him, I have made him dinner, and he is going to eat it “.
After finishing dealing with Wobble, the coppers did bring Wobble back to Sarn in a squad car after they had finished asking him all their questions, so he could have his dinner, I think they didn’t want to piss off his mother.
In the end, the result was mike was arrested for growing illegal weed and was charged with that offence, and I believe he had a small fine and was told not to do it again or else.
Mike did ask could he have the plant back, but strangely enough they said no.
They most likely kept it for themselves, for training purposes of course.
His conviction had even made into the local paper.
Another time fat mike was charged with supplying drugs, this is not as bad as it sounds.
He had given Vorn one of our younger bikers some stuff “ not sure of what kind, I know it was no A class stuff “ and Vron only being young at the time panicked when he was caught with the drugs on him by the coppers, and he dropped mike in`it immediately and then mike was charged with supplying illegal substances
( Photo 4 ) .Vorn aka ( Vaughan Jenkins ) photo taken at the ( Elver ) rally.
We found it all very funny, and took the piss out of mike for quite a while.
A drug related incident happened to Wobble has he was walking back up to his flat after coming back from visiting the shops down town, he was carrying two bags of shopping and minding his own business, he was just making his way home and then out of nowhere to coppers approached him on the street.
They stopped him and started to question him about being on drugs.
This does seem a little random, but in this case wobble may have drawn some attention to himself by wearing sunglasses.
He was dressed has he normally would, he was wearing his leather jacket and his denim cut-off over the top of the jacket which was not unusual, and all he was carrying was two plastic shopping bags, you get from any supermarket they had nothing out of the ordinary in them, they were filled up with booze and some essential food stuffs for the evening.
Ok wearing sunglasses under normal circumstances should not draw attention to anyone, let alone the police, the issue may well have had something to do with the weather conditions.
The sunglasses did not suit the weather, because it was a very grey dark day with no sun and it was hammering down with rain.
The two coppers pulled him to one side and lead him into one of the many gullies off the main road, Bridgend is an old town and the street plan is based on the medieval town set up, after all the town is over a 1000 years old and still as many alleyways around the main road through the town.
They searched him and accused him of being on drugs and wanted to know if he had any on him.
The copper’s mindset was that a normal person would not be wearing dark sunglasses in a heavy rain storm, if they were not on drugs, well that is how they saw the situation.
They had some shelter from the rain in the gully/alleyway.
They first started to do a simple body search, so they patted him down all over and searched through his pockets, they found no evidence of any drug, then they emptied the shopping bags, all they found in there was the drink and food wobble had bought earlier.
Still no drugs.
so they started to try and peel the cloth patches of his cut-off, looking for hidden drugs under the badges.
Wobble protested against this, and wanted to know if they had a sewing kit on them, so they could sew the patches back on.
Still no evidence of drugs.
They were very disappointed, that they could not find any drugs, they did try and threaten wobble to take him up the station where he would be subject to a full cavity search.
Wobble said it looked like they were looking for an excuse to get off the street beat, and spend the rest of the day out of the rain.
At the threat of the complete body search wobble`s reply was something like “ do what you like, I don’t care, your not going to find any drugs on me “.
The copper still continued with the sunglasses approach “ why are you wearing sunglasses in the rain “.
Wobbles answer “ why not, just because it is raining it’s not against the law is it “.
At this point the coppers either gave up because it was raining heavy or there was nothing to charge wobble with, so they let him go, telling him they would keep an eye on him.
At this time in the early 80s, the Bridgend police were very keen on catching people with any class of drugs, you would be questioned about the painkiller paracetamol, if you were found carrying any.
On one occasion a beat copper was walking past the Dunraven hotel ( pub ) which is on Wyndham street in the middle of Bridgend town, and as he walked past he smelled the green wafting through the open window, within a very short time a dozen coppers raided the place, they burst into the pub and searched everyone in there.
Nowa days in Bridgend town, people are so blasé about smoking grass, they walk around town with a joint in their hand puffing away as they walk along without a care in the world, maybe the police have enough on their hands with ( spice ) which is cheap and is freely available to all and sundry.
It does give the impression that the police campaign to stamp out drugs in south Wales as failed, miserably.
( Photo 5 ) . A tomato plant, allegedly.
Cannabis
Also called: Weed Skunk Sinsemilla Sensi Resin Puff Pot Marijuana Herb Hashish Hash Grass Ganja Draw Dope Bud Bhang Pollen Cannabis can be smoked, eaten and vaped – and is the UK’s most widely-used illegal drug
How it looks, tastes and smells
What does it look like?
Soft black resin, furry green leaves and hard brown lumps, cannabis can look very different depending on its type – but it all comes from cannabis plants.
You’re most likely to come across these types:
Weed
Also known as grass, weed is made from drying out the leaves and flowering parts of the cannabis plant. It can look like dried herbs and is usually brownish-green in colour.
Skunk
This is the name given for particular strains of grass that are very strong. Skunk’s become very popular in recent years and is often bright, pale or dark green in colour and covered in tiny crystals.
Hash/hashish
Not nearly as common as it used to be, hash (or hashish) is made from the resin of the cannabis plant and can be black, brown, soft or hard – depending on the type.
Cannabis oil
This is a dark, sticky and honey-coloured substance that’s much less common than other types.
Dab’/’shatter’
These are highly concentrated forms of cannabis that are extracted using butane. They come in a solid form known as ‘dab’ or ‘shatter’ and can be used as e-liquids in vape pens.
What does it taste/smell like?
Cannabis has a musky, sweet smell. Some of the more potent types of cannabis can have a stronger smell, but this isn’t a reliable guide to the strength of any particular batch.
How do people take it?
Smoke spliffs
In the UK, most people mix it with tobacco and roll it into a cannabis cigarette known as a spliff or joint. Some people don’t use tobacco at all and make weed-only spliffs.
Smoke bongs
Users do this mix by mixing the drug with tobacco and putting it in a pipe, lighting it, and then inhaling the smoke through water out of a large tube. There are many types of bongs, and not everyone uses tobacco.
Eat and drink it (edibles)
People do this by mixing it into cakes (hash brownies), tea and even yoghurt. The effects can take longer to kick in if you take it this way and last longer. You might also accidentally end up taking a larger dose than you wanted to.
Vape it
This method has become more popular in recent years. Most people use a vapouriser which heats the cannabis, rather than burning it. Very little is known about the health impact of vaping cannabis.
Is there a safer way to take cannabis?
The general advice is to only take cannabis when you’re feeling happy and relaxed, in a safe environment, and with people you’re comfortable with.
Stronger forms and strains of cannabis are more likely to cause paranoia and mental health issues. Try to avoid these if you can and take cannabis that’s lower in THC, and which contains CBD instead.
Smoking cannabis with tobacco increases the risk of becoming dependent on nicotine. To avoid this, don’t use tobacco in bongs and spliffs.
How it feels
How does it make you feel?
Cannabis is classed as a hallucinogenic and sedative drug. It can make people feel more aware of their senses and more relaxed (stoned), and its hallucinogenic effects can give you the feeling that time is slowing down.
It can also make you very hungry, known as ‘the munchies’, or make you feel very sick, known as ‘a whitey’.
People who take cannabis say they feel: relaxed paranoid chilled out confused happy sick giggly anxious hungry light-headed faint Its effects vary massively depending on: the kind of person you are what you take (some types of cannabis are stronger than others) the environment you’re in how much you take how often you take it THC & CBD
The hallucinogenic effects of cannabis are mainly due to a compound in cannabis called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).
The other important compound in cannabis is CBD (cannabidiol). Skunk and other forms of strong cannabis contain high levels of THC but very little, or no, CBD.
It’s thought that CBD can balance out some of the effects of THC and make users less likely to feel anxious and paranoid. You can’t tell from looking or smelling cannabis whether there’s a balance of CBD and THC in it, but in general, hash may have more CBD than skunk.
How does it make people behave?
Cannabis can make some people giggly and chatty, and other people paranoid, confused and anxious – it really depends on the type of person taking it and the circumstances they take it under.
Some people: Experience mild hallucinations if they take particularly strong cannabis. Become lethargic and unmotivated. Have problems concentrating and learning new information. This is because studies suggest that cannabis effects the part of the brain we use for learning and remembering things. Perform badly in exams. Because cannabis impacts the part of the brain we use for learning and remembering things, regular use by young people (whose brains are still developing) has been linked to poor exam results.
Duration.
How long the effects last and the drug stays in your system depends on how much you’ve taken, your size, whether you’ve eaten and what other drugs you may have also taken.
To kick in:
When smoked, it normally takes a minute or two to feel stoned. If you eat cannabis, it can up to an hour.
This depends on how much you smoke. Generally, the effect is strongest for about 10 minutes to half an hour after smoking cannabis, but if you smoke a lot, you may still feel stoned for a couple of hours. If you eat cannabis, the peak effects can last for 2 to 4 hours, and there may even be a few more hours before the effects wear off completely.
After effects:
People may still feel the effects the next day, particularly after a heavy session.
How long will it be detectable?
If you’ve used cannabis as a one-off, it will show up in a urine test for around 2 to 3 days afterwards.
However, this can go up to a month for regular users.
How long a drug can be detected for depends on how much is taken and which testing kit is used. This is only a general guide.
The risks
Physical health risks
Smoking cannabis can; make you wheeze and out of breath make you cough uncomfortably or painfully make your asthma worse if you have it There’s been less research on it but smoking cannabis is likely to have many of the long term physical health risk as smoking tobacco (even if you don’t mix the cannabis with tobacco). So smoking cannabis can also; give you lung cancer increase your heart rate and affect your blood pressure, which makes it particularly harmful for people with heart disease reduce your sperm count if you’re male, affecting your ability to have children suppress your ovulation if you’re female, affecting your ability to have children increase the risk of your baby being born smaller than expected if you smoke it while pregnant Mental health risks.
Using cannabis can: affect your motivation to do things impair your memory so you can’t remember things or learn new information give you mood swings disturb your sleep and make you depressed make you anxious, panicky, or even aggressive make you see or hear things that aren’t there (known as hallucinating or tripping) cause hours (or days) of anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations, which only settle down if the person stops taking it – and sometimes don’t settle down at all cause a serious relapse for people with psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia increase your chances of developing illnesses like schizophrenia, especially if you have a family background of mental illness and you start smoking in your teenage years What is cannabis cut with?
Lots of things – including glass, henna, lead and aluminium.
Dealers cut hash with similar-looking substances or heavy materials to increase the weight of the drug and make a bigger profit.
Although not all cannabis is cut, it’s very hard to know when it is or isn’t — so you could be smoking, eating or vaping chemicals from all sorts of unknown substances, including pesticides used to grow the cannabis.
Tobacco is often mixed with cannabis too, for making joints or smoking bongs. If you mix cannabis with tobacco you’ll be taking on the same risks you get from smoking tobacco.
These are: addiction to nicotine (the drug in tobacco), coughs, chest infections and in the longer-term, cancer and heart disease.
Mixing
Is it dangerous to mix with other drugs?
Yes, any time you mix drugs together you take on new risks.
For example, if you drive when stoned or high you double your chances of having a fatal or serious injury car crash, but if you drive after mixing cannabis with alcohol, you’re 16 times more likely to crash.
Smoking or vaping cannabis with tobacco increases the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine which is the addictive drug in tobacco.
Addiction
Can you get addicted?
Yes. Heavy cannabis users often get cravings and find it hard not to take the drug – even when they know it’s causing them physical, mental or social problems.
When heavy users do try to stop they can: feel moody and irritable feel sick find it hard to sleep find it hard to eat experience sweating and shaking get diarrhoea If you roll your spliffs with tobacco, you’re also at risk of getting addicted (or staying addicted) to nicotine.
The law
Class: B This is a Class B drug, which means it’s illegal to have for yourself, give away or sell. Possession can get you up to 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Supplying someone else, even your friends, can get you up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Like drink-driving, driving when high is dangerous and illegal. If you’re caught driving under the influence, you may receive a heavy fine, driving ban, or prison sentence.
If the police catch people supplying illegal drugs in a home, club, bar or hostel, they can potentially prosecute the landlord, club owner or any other person concerned in the management of the premises.
Additional law details
Cannabis is different to other Class B drugs as it comes under the discretionary warning scheme.
This means that a police officer can choose to issue you with a street warning only (which doesn’t form a criminal record, though it will be recorded), so long as: you’re in possession of a small amount of cannabis only, and for your personal use it’s the first time you’ve been caught with an illicit drug and you have no previous record of offence you are compliant, non-aggressive and admit that the cannabis is for your own use only If you’re caught with cannabis and it’s your second offence, the police can issue with a fixed-term fee notice, which is an on-the-spot fine for £80.
As long as you pay the fine within 21 days, there’s no criminal record. If there’s a third occasion, you will be arrested and taken to the police station.