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HISTORY

The breathalyzer (AKA breathalizer) is a device used by the authorities for measuring the blood alcohol content (BAC) of a person. This device was originally designed by Smith & Wesson and were once large machines that cost thousands of dollars per unit. Police departments were the only ones with these devices and they were base units at the station which required them to bring subjects back to the station to be tested.

Today hundreds of manufacturers make small, portable breathalyzer units that much more accurate and cost as little as $20 each. This enables law enforcement officers to give breathalyzer tests out in the field and the average person can easily purchase one of these units for their own person use.

THE LAW

In most states you are considered intoxicated if you drive while your BAC level is over 0.08%, however some states have the limit as high as 0.1%.

Look at the chart below, it only takes 3 drinks (units of alcohol) to make the average person too intoxicated to drive.

For the average person it takes an hour to process one drink, so if you have 3 drinks putting you over the limit it will take approximately one hour to put you back into the 2 drink range and up to 3 hours to bring your BAC back down to 0.00%.

Alcohol effects different people in different ways. A person who drinks everyday may be able to function perfectly fine with a BAC of 0.1%, while another person of the exact same age, weight, size, and stomach composition who rarely drinks might be falling all over the place with a BAC of 0.1%. Your BAC level has absolutely nothing to do with your tolerance of alcohol. The BAC level was set to account for the average person, not the person with an insanely high tolerance who drinks a case a night and two on the weekends. So many people are totally shocked to realize how high their BAC is after just a few drinks.

BEATING THE BREATHALYZER

Many people believe that they can beat the breathalyzer test by sucking on breath mints, onions, a penny, or using mouthwash. However, these are all myths.

An episode of the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters tested substances usually recommended in this practice—including breath mints, mouthwash, and onion—and found them to be ineffective. Adding an odor to mask the smell of alcohol might fool a person, but does not change the actual alcohol concentration in the body or on the breath which is what is measured by the breathalyzer. 

You must blow hard to get an accurate reading from a breathalyzer and this test actually measures the alcohol from air exhaled from deep within the lungs and not just from your mouth. When you drink alcohol the mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines absorb alcohol into the bloodstream. When yout blood passes through the lungs’ air sacs, the alcohol moves across them as well, thus the concentration of alcohol in the breath is directly proportional to the concentration of it in the blood. The breath alcohol to blood alcohol ratio is 2,100:1. This means that every 1 ml of blood has the same amount of alcohol in it as 2,100 ml of exhaled breath.

Interestingly, substances that might actually reduce the BAC reading were not tested on the show. These include a bag of activated charcoal concealed in the mouth (to absorb alcohol vapor), an oxidizing gas (such as N2O, Cl2, O3, etc.) which would fool a fuel cell type detector, or an organic interferent to fool an infra-red absorption detector. The infra-red absorption detector is especially vulnerable to countermeasures, since it only makes measurements at particular discrete wavelengths rather than producing a continuous absorption spectrum as a laboratory instrument would do.

We used the Alcohawk Pro Digital Breathalyzer which has a ±0.002% accuracy to do our own tests and measure the BAC of a person before and after putting a teabag filled with activated charcoal tablets in their mouth:

John had a BAC of 0.12% BAC and the bag of activated charcoal effectively lowered his BAC to 0.08%.
Natalie had a BAC of 0.14% BAC and the bag of activated charcoal effectively lowered her BAC to 0.09%.

We found that this method only slightly lowers the BAC of the person taking the test and requires that a person essentially breathe through a teabag containing charcoal tablets. If the police officer giving the test uses the proper procedures then he will check the inside of the persons mouth to make sure they are not concealing anything in their mouth which may effect the test results.

On the other hand, products such as mouthwash or breath spray can “fool” breath machines by significantly raising test results. Listerine, for example, contains 27% alcohol; because the breath machine will assume the alcohol is coming from alcohol in the blood diffusing into the lung rather than directly from the mouth, it will apply a “partition ratio” of 2100:1 in computing blood alcohol concentration—resulting in a false high test reading. To counter this, officers are not supposed to administer a PBT for 15 minutes after the subject eats, vomits, or puts anything in their mouth.

Vary Your Breathing Pattern

The tests we ran found that varying our breathing patterns had a small effect on the readings:

Holding your breath for 30 seconds before exhaling increased the blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) from 0.12% BAC to 0.15% BAC.
Hyperventilating for 20 seconds immediately before, on the other hand, decreased the blood-alcohol level by from 0.12% BAC to 0.10% BAC.
Keeping the mouth closed for five minutes and using shallow nasal breathing resulted in increasing the BAC from 0.12% to 0.15%, and testing after a slow, 20-second exhalation increased levels by 0.02%.

We found two sources online, “How Breathing Techniques Can Influence the Results of Breath-Alcohol Analyses”, 22(4) Medical Science and the Law 275 and “Accurate Measurement of Blood Alcohol Concentration with Isothermal Breathing”, 51(1) Journal of Studies on Alcohol had similar findings to our own.

Dr. Michael Hlastala, Professor of Physiology, Biophysics and Medicine at the University of Washington has gone farther and concluded:

“By far, the most overlooked error in breath testing for alcohol is the pattern of breathing….The concentration of alcohol changes considerably during the breath…The first part of the breath, after discarding the dead space, has an alcohol concentration much lower than the equivalent BAC. Whereas, the last part of the breath has an alcohol concentration that is much higher than the equivalent BAC. The last part of the breath can be over 50% above the alcohol level….Thus, a breath tester reading of 0.14% taken from the last part of the breath.

Many police officers know this. They also know that if the machine contradicts their judgement that the person they arrested is intoxicated, they won’t look good. So when they tell the arrestee to blow into the machine’s mouthpiece, they’ll yell at him, “Keep breathing! Breathe harder! Harder!” As Professor Hlastala has found, this ensures that the breath captured by the machine will be from the bottom of the lungs, near the alveolar sacs, which will be richest in alcohol. With the higher alcohol concentration, the machine will give a higher — but inaccurate — reading.

Pulling the Trigger

We found that a person with a BAC level of 0.12% BAC could significantly lower their BAC level if they stop drinking. Drink water and then induce vomitting. After clearing their stomach they then ate food to further absorb any remaining alcohol in their body and took a brisk 10 minute walk as their body began metabolizing the food. We measured their BAC again after this process (20 minutes after the first reading) and found that their BAC was only 0.07%. This lowered the level significantly faster than just time alone which would take approximately 1.5 hours to reach this level according to the graph above.

RECOMMENDED BREATHALYZER UNITS TO BUY

AlcoHawk Pro is FDA/DOT/NHSTA approved Professional Grade breathalyzer. The AlcoHawk Pro takes a deeper breath sample from the user and provides more accurate results than similar models, FlowCheck Technology ensures enough air is blown into the machine.

The Professional Grade Alcohol Breathalyzer The Alcohawk Pro is a extremely accurate semiconductor-oxide breathalyzer. This professional model takes a deeper breath sample from the user and provides more accurate results than similar models. A deeper breath sample will draw the air out of the bottom of the lungs, and into the AlcoHawk Pro to determine the users BAC. By ensuring that the user is getting that deep lung air, you will be assured that the AlcoHawk will provide you with the most accurate results available. This Professional Grade Breathalyzer is Perfect for many professional organizations for employee screening, emergency room care, hospitals, schools, law enforcement, and roadside testing.

The semiconductor sensor accuracy is ±0.002% BAC at 0.10% BAC and is DOT / NHTSA cleared. The Alcohawk Pro is also 510(k) Certified by the U.S. FDA.

LG Korea has even introduced a breathalyzer phone, the LG LP4100 which has a built-in breathalyzer capabilities that records your blood-alcohol level. When blown into by an intoxicated person, it will gives a warning and displays a nifty little animation of a car swerving on a road and crashing into traffic cones.

CONCLUSION

There is no effective way to significantly lower your BAC level. You can use activated charcoal tablets to slightly lower the level by 0.04-0.05%, however if you are completely intoxicated then this will not be a significant drop. Also, law enforcement will most definitely be aware of the fact that you have something in your mouth that could effect their test results.

I do not recommend drinking and driving as it kills thousands of people each year. Get a designated driver, stay over night, call someone, get public transportation and pick up your car the next morning.

Matthew Spencer recently killed his entire family while driving intoxicated.

The biggest risk of driving intoxicated is not getting arrested, it’s getting killed, killing someone else or even worse:

Have you ever wondered if some of the things you do on a daily basis could be responsible for making you fat? 

The ten things below are sure-fire ways to gaining weight (not quality lean mass, but fat) and will most likely make you fat.   Some of these things you may already know but some of them may totally take you by surprise!

(1)  Going to Sleep immediately after you eat will make you fat.

Did you know that Sumo wrestlers purposely sleep for a few hours after eating really large  meals to rapidly gain fat during their training programs?

Your body doesn’t require as many calories during sleep as it does when you are awake.  Calories that are eaten right before sleep have a FAR greater chance of being stored as fat as calories that are consumed earlier in the day. In fact, it’s almost a certainty.  

This goes for afternoon naps and also applies to late-night eating.   So if you want to avoid this, then don’t eat 2 hours before bedtime and do something physical such as walking or cleaning between your last meal and bedtime.  Also you want to eat slow digesting lean proteins at night rather than fast digesting carbs or simple sugars which are more easily stored as fat. 

Casein protein powder (shakes) takes between 7-12 hours to digest and is the only food that you should consume at bedtime.  These proteins are designed to digest slowly at an even pace through out the entire time you are sleeping.

If you eat and then immediately sleep on a regular basis, you will gain fat.

(2) Skipping meals or not eating for long periods of time will make you fat.

Doesn’t skipping meals (most notably breakfast) save a lot of calories during the day?

Sure, eating less during a given day does decrease your caloric intake, but it also slows your metabolism.  Skipping meals leads to hunger, which usually causes a person to eat larger amounts and make poor food choices when they do eventually get around to eating.

With a metabolism that’s been slowed by not eating (particularly true of skipping breakfast), consuming a few larger meals rather than lots of smaller meals you’re going to store a lot more of that food as fat.  It won’t matter if you’re eating a hamburger and fries or if you’re eating brown rice and a grilled chicken breast.  Your metabolism will be sluggish and your body will want to store what you’re eating rather than use it.   Look at the animal kingdom, a horse eats constantly and stays lean and muscular, while a bear eats on rare occassions and needs to store fat to make up for the long periods of time when they are not eating.

Eat as soon after you wake up as possible (never more than an hour) to kick-start your metabolism for the day. Even if it’s just a small something you grab on the go, do it. It will get your metabolism going and ensure the food you eat later doesn’t get preferentially stored as fat.   Also try to eat at least 6 small meals a day.

(3) Drinking soft drinks (even diet drinks) with fatty foods will make you fat.

A sugary soft drink will result in a high insulin response. Insulin is a storage hormone - it helps the body store carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

There is also evidence to suggest that the artifical sweeteners commonly found in diet drinks can cause an insulin reaction in the body. It’s a simple reaction to the sweetness, not carbs as there are no carbs in diet drinks. The body simply associates the taste of sweetness with the presence of carbs and assumes that carbs are present, increasing insulin levels in response.

What do you get when you have fatty foods in the presence of increased insulin levels? Simple. You get fat.

(4) Constant snacking on energy foods will make you gain fat.

I’m all for frequent eating to boost the metabolism and snacking on healthy foods is definitely not a bad thing. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about giving your body a constant supply of food energy.

Imagine giving your body a constant supply of energy, it will not have a reason to dip into stored bodyfat for energy. Just like you will never dip into the battery on your laptop computer if you leave it plugged in. The body is no different.

A constant supply of outside energy means it won’t have to use its own stored energy supplies. The result is that you will put on fat because the body doesn’t need to burn any of it for energy.

(5) Stress without physical exertion will make you fat.

The jury is NOT out on evolution. The human body evolved to deal with stress in certain ways. Before we became “civilized,” stress was all about fight-or-flight. Stress was that you were about to be eaten by a lion so you’d better run!

In response, the body needed a mechanism for quick energy to be available and a system to help deal with shock and injury. It was all about survival.

The result? In stressful conditions, the body secretes cortisol - a hormone that immediately starts breaking down muscle tissue for fast energy (it also acts as an anti-inflammatory in case of injury; cortisone is a relative of cortisol).

These days, we very rarely have to worry about being eaten by pretty much anything.  However, the basic responses of the body can’t distinguish between that stress and the stress of, say, your boss taking away your treasured red stapler that you love so much and moving your desk to the basement.

In the past, stress would be immediately followed by physical exertion. You’d run as fast as you could from the lion or you’d fight off what was attacking you. Now, there is rarely physical exertion following stress so the cortisol is not dissipated.  So it continues to break down muscle and promote fat storage.

This is why constant stress without regular exercise will make you fat.

(6) Toxic substances in your food will make you fat.

Your body’s reaction to a toxic substance is simple: protection. There are two primary ways the body does this. First, it tries to flush the toxins out. If that fails, it will try to lock the toxins away.

Think about it this way - what do nuclear power plants do with radioactive waste? They seal it in concrete and bury it. This is essentially the same thing your body does with toxins that you ingest. If it can’t get rid of them, it seals them up in fat cells and locks them away.

Have you ever experienced headaches or other general ill feelings when you’ve gone on a diet? This is typical and is a result of previously stored toxins being released into the body again as you burn or release fat. You are, in essence, unsealing the toxins and flushing them out. This is one of the primary reasons it’s critical to drink plenty of water when you’re losing fat.

Minimize foods that contain toxins such as preservatives, pesticides (wash your fruit and vegetables thoroughly), antibiotics, and heavy metals (such as the mercury increasingly found in some species of fish). Your body will protect itself by holding onto fat to lock the toxins away.

(7) Losing muscle mass will make you fat.

The engine of your metabolism is your muscle mass. This is where the majority of calories are burned in the body. If you go on a diet and you lose a lot of muscle, it is pretty much a guarantee you’ll gain the weight back (and often more!) and make it harder to lose fat again.

If you don’t protect your muscle mass, the more you diet, the fatter you’ll get.

(8) Overconsumption of fructose will make you fat.

Even though fructose is a sugar found in fruit and fruit juice, please, please, PLEASE don’t take this point to mean that simply eating fruit is going to make you fat. It’s not. Here’s what I mean:

Your body stores carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in the muscles and in the liver. When your body needs energy, it breaks the glycogen down into sugar (glucose) for use in various bodily processes.

When your glycogen stores are full, extra carbohydrates will have a tendency to be stored as fat unless burned by activity. Fructose is more efficently converted into fat (more specifically, it’s converted into the chemical backbone of triglycerides, which are fat molecules) than are other carbohydrates such as glucose. This makes it that much easier for excess fructose to be converted into fat.

 While high fructose corn syrup is by far the main culprit when it comes to fructose and fat gain, even the fructose found in fruits and fruit juices can have this effect. Because fructose has “nicer” associations with it (being a fruit sugar) than other sugars such as sucrose (table sugar), a person may think they can drink all the juice they want and not run into the same trouble as if they drank the same amount of a sugary drink containing sucrose.

Fruit juices are essentially a concentrated source of fruit sugar and calories - as much as 150 calories or more per glass! Certainly, juice has more nutritional qualities to it than a soft drink but it is nevertheless important to realize that juice actually has a lot of calories and that the sugar it contains can easily be converted into fat.

What to do about it? Eating your fruit and drinking your fruit juice earlier in the day will greatly minimize any chance of spillover into fat stores. Also, take steps to minimize consumption of high fructose corn syrup, which is found in foods and drinks such as soft drinks and fruit beverages, cookies, gum, jams, jellies and baked goods. As always, read the labels!

(9) Drinking alcohol frequently will make you fat.

Alcohol can make you fat in so many ways. Alcohol inhibits both the fat-burning enzymes and the muscle-building hormones in your body for many hours after consumption. Alcohol is normally consumed later in the day/evening, a time when your body has the least need for the extra calories. Alcohol is preferentially stored as fat and is very efficiently converted into fat in the body. Alcohol contains a lot of calories (7 calories per gram) with very little, if any, redeeming nutritional value. Alcohol is not an intelligence-enhancing substance and can lead you to make poor late-night food choices, again, a time when your body needs the extra calories the least. Alcohol is a depressant that will eventually make you tired. Remember what Sumo wrestlers do to gain fat quickly? Take in a lot of calories then go directly to sleep.

All these points are not to say a moderate amount of alcohol consumption is bad for you. The key truly is moderation.

When you look at these points all together, imagine how quickly you’ll gain fat if you drink a lot of alcohol late at night, eat fast food then go directly to sleep. There are few better ways to gain fat this quickly.

(10) Not drinking enough water will make you fat. 

Not drinking enough water can slow down your metabolism and encourage your body to hold onto it’s bodyfat rather than use it for energy.

Dehydration can contribute to an inefficient metabolism, by affecting body temperature. When you are dehydrated, your body temperature drops slightly, and causes your body to store fat as a way to help raise or maintain the temperature. Make sure you drink enough liquids, preferably at least 8 glasses of water per day, to avoid this metabolic slowdown.

Conclusion:

Keeping an eye on the above factors can help you keep your weight under control. Add exercise into the mix and that extra fat will be a thing of the past!

This week we have a really killer Pinot Noir which is sold for far less than it’s taste value, a rustic Australian Cabernet, a spicy Australian Shiraz and a fruity Austalian Shiraz, a local Zin, and a really nice complex blended red (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, & Cabernet Franc) from Italy.

Breggo - Pinot Noir (2005)
USA > California > Anderson Valley
www.breggo.com

SUMMARY: Light pine notes. Green apple skins, long aftertaste. Medium bodied but complex.

TASTING: The Anderson Valley suffered a very wet year in 2005, but after rigorous work in the vineyard and some TLC, the quality of the fruit turned out to be superb. The vivid color of this wine is immediately enticing. Aromas of grapefruit peel and black pepper express the Syrah component of this blend, while wild strawberries and pie cherries are the contributions from the Pinot Noir.

Great Pinots are made for savoring as they change in the glass over time. Drink and ruminate with a glass or two over a couple of hours and enjoy the transformation.

WITH FOOD: While it does not go well with spicy foods, a Pinot Noir blend is a great match for rich and complex foods such as duck. Pan Roasted Duck with a Pinot Glaze is just the thing to eat with this wine. Perfect for a late lunch on a sunny day.

Pin Pin - Cabernet Sauvignon (2003)
Australia > Margaret River
www.glenmorewine.com.au

SUMMARY: Tobacco, pine needles, tart cherries, black fruit, plums. Lots of tannins.

TASTING: From the Yallingup coastal hamlet of Margaret River, this Cabernet is soft and supple and a very approachable wine. This is a food wine but it is also superb on its own and particularly well matched with a bite of Cheddar cheese.

WITH FOOD: There isn’t a good Cabernet alive that doesn’t like a nice grilled piece of meat. The varietal’s characteristic ‘bigness’ is just right for the strong flavors of a Classic Steak au Poivre. They do make some great local cheddar cheese which gets the tonsils tingling and also goes really well with the wine.

Tiger’s Tale - Shiraz (2004)
Australia > Margaret River
www.edwardsvineyard.com.au

SUMMARY: Spicy white pepper, red berries and tobacco leaf characters.

TASTING: Take your time with this wine. Let it open up; decanting for about an hour should do it. Now take a good, long whiff and you’ll find notes of smoky cherries and cedar. I tasted black licorice, blackberry, black currant and tobacco leaf. Nice silky tannins and a long finish make for an elegant experience.

WITH FOOD: Shiraz pairs nicely with dishes that complement its fruit and spicy qualities. It is often a nice match for a spicy Mexican meal or even pizza! I think it goes well with my dish of Pan Seared Chicken Stuffed with Stilton Cheese which brings out the wine’s spicy qualities. This wine would also be heavenly with some French goat’s cheese and water biscuits.

Wirring Road - Shiraz (2003)
Australia > Margaret River
www.jarvisestate.com.au

SUMMARY: Full bodied. Black raspberries, red currants, blueberries, green peppers. Soft tannins.

TASTING: Shiraz has famously been called the ‘manliest of all wines.’ A little extreme, but it carries a truth: a good Shiraz is bold, strong and spicy (masculine virtues I suppose).

WITH FOOD: A rich meal like Venison suits this wine well. Salami or even garlic sausage would also be a fine match with this wine.

Pellegrini 8 Cousins - Zinfandel (2005)
USA > California > Sonoma County
www.lombardiwine.com

SUMMARY: Blueberry pie, boysenberry, cinnamon and baking spices.

TASTING: This wine wants to give you a sense of where it came from. Not surprising, since the Russian River Valley in Sonoma is a place of awesome beauty. From within the wine’s earthy characters, the wonderful blackberry and other dark fruit flavors slowly grow and emerge. The richness also has fantastic flavors of tarragon and spices which make this wine much more complex than a lot of Zinfandels: exceptional depth and concentration. You feel this wine all the way to your feet!

WITH FOOD: Zinfandel has never met a steak it didn’t like and this one is no exception. What do you do with some cold leftover steaks from the previous day? How about Beef Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese. Absolutely Fabulous!

Tenuta Argentiera Villa Donoratico - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (2003)
Italy > Livorno
www.argentiera.eu

SUMMARY: Smoky and leathery nose with black cherry, black currant and mushrooms with violet and herbs.

TASTING: It has lots of blackcurrants which is so typical of Bordeaux and yet expresses the leathery and mushroom characteristics found in the wines from Tuscany. To show its best side, we recommend you chill this wine slightly in the fridge for about 20 minutes before you drink it. Room temperature these days tends to be a little too warm for complex wines.

WITH FOOD: This wine merits a fine steak.

Two younger brothers of Sonoma County’s first Iraq war casualty are among five suspects arrested since a weekend brawl that left one man dead and three others wounded.

Matthew Timothy O’Day (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was in jail Monday on suspicion of murder, and Rory Joseph O’Day (above left), 18, of Santa Rosa was being held as a suspected accessory to murder.

The O’Days’ eldest brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O’Day (pictured above), died in Iraq when his tank plunged off a bridge into the Euphrates River on March 24, 2003, five days into the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  He was the first Sonoma County casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A fifth man, Donald Bittner (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was arrested Monday and held on suspicion of murder.

Police found Benjamin Herbert Floriani dead on the living room floor when they arrived at the Blair Place town house. Three other men were wounded.

Efran Vasquez, 22, and Aniano Vasquez, 21, were hospitalized, Banayat said. Martin Ponzo, 20, was treated for his injuries and released.

It was the fourth homicide of the year in Santa Rosa, compared to six for all of 2006.

Below are the mug shots of some of the suspects arrested in the stabbing incident.

Matthew O’Day is pictured above left and Rory O’Day is pictured above right.  Click on either image to view the full sized picture.

Alex Hopper is pictured to the left and Noah Minuskin is pictured to the right.  Click on either image to view the full sized picture.

Above is a photo of Donald Bittner.  Click on the image to view the full sized picture.

A 21 year old San Francisco State University student was stabbed to death and two others suffered life-threatening injuries at a party in Santa Rosa that erupted in violence early Saturday.

Benjamin Herbert Floriani, was found dead on the living-room floor of the Blair Place apartment at around 1:09 a.m. Saturday morning. Two others at the party were hospitalized with severe injuries during what witnesses described as a boisterous party at the complex near West Ninth Street.  The fight took place at 722 Blair Place.

Two Santa Rosa men were arrested in connection with the stabbing. Alex Paul Hopper (above left), 20, was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of murder, and Noah H. Minuskin (above right), 19, is being held as an accessory.

Floriani, who police believe was a guest at the party, was killed after a fight broke out.

Two people were transported by ambulance to hospitals shortly after police arrived.

Banayat said the injuries were life-threatening and that the identities of the victims were being withheld because the case is still under investigation.

One other person was treated for injuries and released.

Blood had dried on the walkway to the front door Saturday afternoon, indicating the possible extent of injuries, said neighbor Carlos Ojeda.

“There’s too much blood,” Ojeda said as crime scene investigators took pictures and collected evidence behind police tape.

“It’s all over the steps, the walls and the door,” Ojeda said.

Investigators were questioning neighbors and witnesses.

Neighbors said two women and several children lived in the tan, single-story apartment, where as many as 50 people gathered late Friday night.

A neighbor who would not give his name said he returned from a trip to Petaluma around 11:30 p.m. and heard yelling coming from the apartment.

He went to sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by police going door to door with the news of the slaying.

“I heard loud arguing inside the fence,” the neighbor said.

Others said they were shocked to hear that someone was killed in the normally quiet neighborhood.

“I am very upset,” said April Shipman, who lives across the street. “I couldn’t even sleep last night.”

The first generation turn-key marijuana grow systems were the original phototron systems which were very popular in the early 90s and capable of growing a single crop in a soil medium. Since then turn-key marijuana grow boxes have come a quite long way. Today these systems are no longer just for small scale growing. They are totally capable of mass producing potent, high yielding cannabis crops. The technology that goes into these systems have increased substantially and the prices have remained low to the point where these systems can pay for themselves after one or two harvests.

Some systems today come complete with miniature hydroponic systems, high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps and even feature CO2 injector kits and air filtration systems. With better technology and cheaper material costs, more and more manufacturers are finding ways to fit everything a complete grow op would need into smaller packages that make for much better use of space and resources.

These new systems are made to fit snugly into closets or disguised to look like mini-refrigerators, storage cabinets, utility sheds, and even computer cases. They can be used hydroponically, aeroponically, or with soil. Some systems have completely automated controls for atmosphere, lighting and feeding systems and most can be modified to customer specifications before ordering—or amended by growers themselves after-market.

A good turn-key marijuana growing chamber can cost as much as $4000-5000, so for some people it makes more sense to construct their own system rather than buy one and have to wait for several harvests before being profitable.

Some popular turn-key systems out there:

Cool Cab - $1800.00

Mini Cool Cab - $1200.00

PC Planter - $450.00

AeroGarden - $129.00

Building Your Own

Most marijuana plants finish in around 8-12 weeks depending on the strain and the growing method used. The veg period can be anywhere from 2-6 weeks. You can increase your productivity by having a veg growth box which is seperate from the actual flowering chamber. Using this method you can veg the plants right up to when they are ready to flower and then put them into the flower box on a 12/12 light/dark timer method or you can have 2-4 plants per foot SOG style and veg for only two weeks.

Lighting

Smaller cabinet systems usually use lights within the 70-250w range. Closet systems usually use lights within the 400-600w range. Grow room systems usually utilize lights within the 600-1000w range. In Sonoma County it is legal for anyone with a medicinal marijuana prescription to grow up to 30 plants within a 10×10 area. However in some areas it is illegal to grow so you need to only use a reasonable amount of energy in relation to your typical usage to avoid raising a red flag with the power company. If you have a +2200 sq ft house you may not want to exceed 3000 watts total. With a 1000 sq ft apartment you may want to stick within the 250-600 w range. You need to ask yourself what is realistic. Some people go as far as using propane tanks hooked up to generators to put their system completely off the electrical grid.

The first thing you need to do is get power into the box, most people use a power strip like below, they are good enough for most systems up to around 250w, with any more then 250w then you should run solid copper wires and have GFI outlets and have the grow have its own breaker.

Fluorescent Lights

Fluorescent lights are the cheapest light to use. They run at about $2 a tube. They produce little heat so ventilation may not be needed unless the space is very small. The light spectrum put out by these lights is suitable for all stages of growing. Because fluorescents disperse light over a large area, they need to be kept within three inches of the tops for the plants to receive enough light. This means you will have to mount the lights in a way that the can be raised everyday.

Ventilation and Air Flow

Ventilation is extremely important within your growing space. If you do not have enough ventilation and the box gets hot you will use up all the Carbon Dioxide causing you to dramatically lose crop yield due to inadequate cooling and air circulation. You will definitely need both an exhaust fan in any grow system.

Marijuana like all other plants puts out waste through the stomata on it’s leaves. Outdoors wind, rain and sun are present to evaporate these toxins from the leaf surface. Indoors the grower must create an environment. The best way to do this is with a fan of some kind. If the grow room is large enough then an regular cooling fan can be placed inside and left on all the time. If you are running a small closet operation then just opening the door twice a day to look at them will create enough air movement for healthy growth. A fan controlled by a thermostat will also work well. These can be found at most electronics stores.

If a large number of plants are to be kept a dehumidifier may be needed. If humidity levels are too high then the chances of mold will dramatically increase. A dehumidifier will cost a grower about $100 so it isn,t really practical for the closet grower.

Fan placement is totally key. Heat rises so you want the exhaust fan blowing the hot air out the top of the box and the inlet holes at the bottom. You do not need an intake and exhaust fan because if you just have an exhaust fan blowing out you create negative pressure and this will suck from the inlet holes and any other gaps you have. This is great because the smell will be contained as long as you have a carbon filter placed after the exhaust fan. The inlet holes should be at least the size on the fans, optimally around 2x the size. The bigger and smother the air inlets the quieter the air movement will be, so radius the inlet edges. A PVC elbow works great as a light trap, just paint the inside black so light doesn’t bounce though it and emit a glow out the end.

You want to evenly distribute the air across the grow box for even growth. A circulation fan in the box blowing across the buds is a good idea. It also cools the buds and increases growth and yield.

Some of the easiest fans to use are computer fans because they are quiet and reliable and cheap at around $4-$15 each. Opt for the ball bearing fans because they last longer, are quieter, and don’t go bad and get extremely loud like bushing fans. One 80mm fan is good enough to cool a 70w HPS, or floros around the same wattage. 2-3 fans would work well for a 150-250w HPS. To power the fans which run on 12v dc use an AC/DC adapter or a computer power supply. If your doing a stealth setup you want a 9V charger so the fans will run slower and quieter, or you can buy a 12v and use a dimmer to make your fans run more quitely.

The adapters rating is in milli amps and the fans rating is in amps, so to convert move the decimal over 3x, so 600ma=.6a . You want to keep the power supply rating higher then the fan draw, otherwise your run the risk of overheating the charger and it failing on you, or making a fire.

If your using a carbon filter with a 150w+ watts you may want to buy a centrifugal blower like a Dayton Blower.  They push the air with more pressure so are much better for pushing through filters, look on ebay for a used one that will fit your application. The Dayton blowers are a bit noisy but you can muffle and dampen the noise by hooking it up to a light dimmer and have the fan on some kind of dampening material. Always put the carbon filter after the fan with centrifugal fans. Listen to the fans inlet when it’s on and if the airflow surges (sounds like a quiet helicopter) instead of the sound being constant, the outlet of the fan it too restricted. That can either mean the carbon filter is too restricted or the pipes are too small.

Placement of the fans is key for noise. If you place a fan the center of a wall or ceiling the fan will shake the panel and make your grow box into a big drum increasing the noise. Place the fans in corners where the structure is stronger and less likely to vibrate.

Grow box sizing should stay in the 45-70 w/ft with soil and but you can grow with 75-90 w/ft if you need or want. But unless if you hydro with co2 enrichment or allot of airflow the plants wont be able to use all the light you give them efficiently because they are limited by the amount of nutrients and co2 the plants can absorb. If your growing a stadium style setup or U-ScrOG you can have higher w/ft because the effective w/ft is lower because of the increase in canopy area and absorbs more of the light.

To calculate how many w/ft in a given space use the following equation: watts/ (depth x width)

Now that you have an idea on the dimensions, lights, and fans you need to find or make a box. The minimum height is around 28” inside height for growing small 70w ScrOG, you can grow shorter by having a lower screen and less soil but the lower screen increases the chances of snapping a branch and less soil can lead to root bound or medium that dries out too fast.

If you plan on growing more then one harvest your far better off having a veg box for female plants and cloning. The benefits of cloning are you know the plants a female and you can flower anytime because it’s a mature plant. I would never, ever use seeds for growing with all the available clones out there at the dispensaries. Using clones means that all your plants are guaranteed to be female, no seeds ever, and they are usually more potent, higher yielding strains that have been generically engineered and evolved to produce higher amounts of quality bud.

Timers

The light and fan timers are externally located on the outside of the grow box, and are the heavy-duty models for higher wattage. The top timer is for the 400 watt high-pressure metal-halide bulb and fan in the larger upper chamber of the box - used for vegetative growth and flowering. One fan stays on all the time. The bottom timer is for the lower chamber’s flourescent fixtures and lower air circulation fan (optional).

Temperature

It’s important to maintain a relatively constant temperature in the growing unit. Fluctuations of a few degrees are ok, but wide variations in temperature can produce less dense and compact plants. For temperature control, I monitor using a min-max type thermometer, as well as 2 standard thermometers, one in each chamber. For ph levels, I use a metered probe type unit. Here you can also see a small air circulation fan and standard thermometer.

Marijuana can survive temperatures from 32 degrees F to over 100 degrees F. Cannabis will grow best with a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees F day and night. Higher than 90 degrees F the enzymes within the plant begin to breakdown and photosynthesis is affected. The same is true for low temperatures.

Humidity

The humidity in the environment is the amount of water vapor present in the air. Most growers know that humidity in excess of 85% percent increases the probability of the appearance of bud mold. The humidity is also critical during germination when the seedlings are extremely fragile. Humidity should be kept over 80% at this stage in the plants life to prevent the soil from drying too fast. Experimentation has shown that a relative humidity of 65% to 80% increases growth rate. Below this level the plants develop extremely narrow and tissue paper thin leaves to try to prevent excess loss of water. Above 80% relative humidity the plant have trouble disposing of toxic chemicals through evaporation.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a gas that is essential for the light reactions in all plants that carry on photosynthesis. CO2 is absorbed through the leafs stomates and is combined with water and light energy to form glucose (used by the plant as energy) and oxygen (which is released). Therefore supplementing CO2 to the existing amount in the air will speed up photosynthesis and therefore, growth will occur faster. Experimentation has also shown that CO2 can help marijuana tolerate higher temperatures (up to 95 degrees F) with little affect on the rate of photosynthesis.

Water

Although only a small portion of water absorbed by the plant is used in photosynthesis a shortage of water does affect the rate photosynthesis occurs. This happens because when the plant is low on water the stomates on the leaves close preventing the release of waste gases and other toxic chemicals. This closure will severely slow down or even stop photosynthesis from occurring.

Sea of Green

Sea of green, or SOG, is the theory of harvesting many small plants frequently, instead of large plants less frequently. In an SOG setup the closet is divided into two light tight spaces. In the top space the lights are permanently set on a 12/12 light/dark timer. On the bottom the lights are kept on for 18 hours per day. fluorescent lights are used throughout. The bottom shelf is used to start seedlings and root clones. The top shelf is used for flowering. Using this setup harvesting can take place once a month.

Safety

All wiring is professionally installed and plastic wire clamps attach all wires keeping them securely in place and out of the way. The 400 watt ballast and capacitor sits on a 3/4 inch plywood shelf, on a piece of fireproof drywall in the upper part of the grow box. The ballast area is also vented for cooling. I use adjustable chains to raise and lower the lights. It’s worth the extra effort to ensure all wiring is secure and lighting is properly mounted.

Paint the walls flat white. Do not use tin foil because it can actually focus light like little laser beams and burn holes through the leaves. Next, cover the floor with plastic. This will help stop water damage to the floor.

CO2 supplementation

Some growers add C02 to their grow rooms to increase growth rate. This has proved itself to be effective in many experiments. C02 supplementation also helps the plants withistand higher temperatures of up to 95 degrees without slowing down growth. There have been complaints however, that C02 supplementation during flowering reduces potency. Therefore, C02 should be stopped when the lights are turned to 12/12.

Harvesting and Drying

When you want you plants to start flowering just turn the lights down to 12 hours light and 12 hours dark. Then be patient and wait for flowering to complete. It helps the drying process a little if you don’t water the week before harvesting. When you cut the plants remove the large fan leaves the and add them to your compost pile as they are not usable for smoking. Place the plants in shoe boxes or paper bags and stir them around daily. In about three weeks the buds should be totally dry and ready to smoke.

On Sunday, May 27th, 2007, Casey Tyler Adams, 26, was camping at a local beach resort (Lawson’s Landing) with some friends.

At around 1 am, Casey Adams and several of the people he was camping with walked down to the privately owned beach (Dillon Beach in Marin Co, CA). While there they were approached by three other young men who started an argument with them. This argument was very brief and began when one of the men in the second group shined a flashlight into Casey’s eyes. He told them to stop, the group left and then re approached Casey a short while later and he was punched in the face several times and hit on the head with the flashlight from behind. The injuries he suffered from the blows caused an artery at the base of his brain to tear, killing him almost instantly. The Marin County DA has informed the public that if he had not died so quickly the defendants would be looking at second degree murder.

Robert Marcus, 20, of Elk Grove, Robert Martell (a marine reservist), 24, of Antioch, and Daren Bell, 24, of Sacramento, were arrested and confessed to having hit Casey under audio and videotape, all stating they were not hit back by Casey. Originally, Robert Martell and Robert Marcus were charged with involuntary manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury. Darren Bell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. At the preliminary hearing the judge said that he was “appalled” at the behavior of these men, and that they basically surrounded and attacked Casey with little provocation other then words Casey may have said. He also said that he saw no grounds for either self defense or justifiable homicide and that not only would he not dismiss or reduce any of the charges, but that the Marin County District Attorney could add involuntary manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury to Bell’s charges.

Subsequent to this preliminary hearing, the Marin County DA’s office offered to drop all other charges if the defendants would plead guilty to assault with force likely, a felony non-strike-able offense according to CA three strikes law. It seems likely that these three guys will probably get off with nothing more than probation for the murder of Casey, downgrading the charge to a misdemeanor that may have the potential to later be expunged from their records.

I feel that this is absolutely ridiculous!  They should be charged with involuntary manslaughter at the very least.  This guy was attacked with deadly force by three individuals.  He was hit in the head repeatedly with a maglight which is a deadly weapon.  If they get this reduced to a misdemeanor and only receive probation that could be expunged from their records than they were able to get away with murder.

If the Sonoma County Court can charge James Eichman, Jerry Eichman, and Douglas James Thompson with involuntary manslaughter for leaving a broked down car on the side of the road that posed an “unideal condition” that was apparently the spark that caused the “gasoline soaked”, Matthew Spencer (who was intoxicated and going over twice the posted speed limit) to lose control of his Jeep and kill himself and his family than they most certainly can charge these three individuals with involuntary manslaughter for jumping an innocent man and beating him to death with a flashlight and their fists.

This is so ridiculous!  How can we feel safe in the world when a judge or DA’s office makes such a ridiculous call. 

Too bad that Casey Adams wasn’t killed in Sonoma County.  I feel that Stephan Passalacqua’s office (Sonoma County DA) would do a much better job of holding these three guys responsible for what they did than Edward S. Berberian, Jr., the Marin County DA.  His motto is Keep Marin Safe thru Protection, Prosecution, & Prevention.  He is clearly not doing a good of upholding safety, protection, or prosecution.

Some people believe that he is letting them off easy because one of the perps, Robert Martell, is a marine reservist.  This could be the case.  In a separate incident in Sonoma County, James Eichman, Jerry Eichman, and Douglas James Thompson were held responsible for the death of Matthew Spencer and his family and faced really severe charges largely due to the fact that his wife, Lauren Martinez’s, family was rich and influencial in the area.
 
Two separate ex-DA investigators who have confirmed that the most appropriate charge should be voluntary manslaughter, and for some reason minor assault charges are what is offered.

How safe can we feel in the world if people who attack and kill others are encouraged and offered to plea bargins and receive completely inadequate charge? Shouldn’t we expect that people in a public place should be safe from the threat of attack? Is this not a Constitutional right? And if we are attacked isn’t it reasonable to assume that the District Attorneys office will prosecute the case appropriately?

We would like to see the DA drop this offer, and that the perpetrators be charged with the voluntary manslaughter they deserve. We are hoping that the defendants are made to serve some prison time, if for no other reason than that they will be forced to take some time to consider the magnitude of the consequences of their choices.

LET JUSTICE PREVAIL, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION BELOW:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dont-let-the-guys-who-killed-casey-plea-to-assault

Thanks!