Scratch-and-Sniff Pot Cards to Help Nab Growers?

The UK has adopted a creative approach to cracking down on marijuana grow houses, by enlisting citizens to help nab growers in their own neighborhoods. But what about people who aren't pot-savvy enough to spot suspicious plants? Crimestoppers has a solution: the British charity is mailing scratch-and-sniff marijuana cards to 201,000 people to familiarize them with the scent of weed. The campaign is in response to a recent boom in grow houses, with 1,800 reported farm busts between 2010 and 2012. Law enforcement officials hope the cards will encourage people to be more vigilant. “Many people don’t realize that the empty, run down house or flat on their street with people coming and going late at night may be a commercial cannabis farm,” says Andy Bliss of England's Association of Chief Police Officers. “These farms are often run by organized criminals but also because they bring crime and anti-social behaviour into communities.” In 2011, similar pot-scented cards were sent to about 30,000 people in the Netherlands, where about 6,000 grow operations are shut down each year. But while the cards smell like cannabis, Crimestoppers assures nervous citizens not to worry about receiving drugs by mail; the scratch-and-sniff cards contain no THC and can't get you high. Some more weed-savvy citizens have taken to Twitter to respond to their recent deliveries:

The cannabis scratch and sniff card smells just like my postman.

— boothby graffoe (@boobygraffoe) March 19, 2013

Thought I might listen to some Hendrix when I get my cannabis scratch and sniff card.

— johnbolch (@johnbolch) March 19, 2013