GARDEN 'WEED' NOT ALL IT SEEMS

A Buxton woman today warned other gardeners to be on the look-out after
she realised a seven-foot plant growing in her garden was cannabis.

Mary Dring had no idea what the mystery weed was when she first spotted
it a few months ago nestling in a flower bed in the back garden of her
Church Close home.

At the time it stood a paltry one foot tall but as summer bloomed her
unlikely garden guest grew into a strapping seven-footer.

Yet still she was none-the-wiser as to its true nature.

"At first I thought it was a lupin because the leaves were narrow, like
fingers, but as it grew I noticed the leaves were serrated," she said.

Mrs. Dring invited her keen gardener neighbours over to inspect the
mystery plant but no one could make a positive identification.

"It has become quite a talking point between us and the neighbours. We
suspected it could be a cannabis plant but weren't sure."

The penny finally dropped one evening last week while Mrs. Dring sat
watching a television programme which featured illegal crops of hemp.

"That's when I knew for certain - it was exactly the same as the ones on
the television. It's got little shoots coming out where the stems meet
and everything."

"If I've got one maybe other people have as well but, like me, they may
not know what it is."

Mrs. Dring approached the police about the plant and was advised to
throw it on the compost heap.

"I didn't want to be jumped on by the drug squad so I thought it best to
approach them first!"

"They didn't seem too concerned. They just told me to stick it on the
compost. So that's what I intend to do."

It remains a mystery as to how exactly the seven foot plant ended up in
the Buxton garden.

"There is also a cabbage growing nearby which we didn't plant. The only
explanation we can think of is a bird must have dropped a seed," said
Mrs. Dring.

Checked-by: willtoo