# Do criminals really shoot people to protect their Marijuana fileds **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070 "2015-04-19T21:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/41 "2015-04-22T21:51:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > As someone pointed out, even attempting to kill someone is likely to attract a lot of attention from the authorities. Attempting to kill somebody will probably definintely attract a lot of attention from the cops. Actually killing somebody…probably less so. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/42 "2015-04-22T21:51:34Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > The steaks have never been higher! Oven baked at 420° ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/43 "2015-04-25T14:48:57Z")
I live in a conservative county, but read that it’s one of the top marijuana growers in the state. There’s some remote country fields that have large Keep Off - No Trespassers Allowed signs. I’ve wondered about that, but never tried driving up their road to find out what those signs are there for. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/44 "2015-04-25T15:31:51Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I live in a conservative county, but read that it’s one of the top marijuana growers in the state. There’s some remote country fields that have large Keep Off - No Trespassers Allowed signs. I’ve wondered about that, but never tried driving up their road to find out what those signs are there for. Those signs are there to discourage you from driving up their road to find out what those signs are there for. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/45 "2015-04-25T20:01:55Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I live in a conservative county, but read that it’s one of the top marijuana growers in the state. There’s some remote country fields that have large Keep Off - No Trespassers Allowed signs. I’ve wondered about that, but never tried driving up their road to find out what those signs are there for. The sort of unspoken context to a lot of this is that folks in rural wooded areas have been making their own weed/moonshine/crank/whatever for a very long time and have mostly just been ignored by the authorities so long as they were being discrete about it. In places like Northern California, it’s only become an issue because outsiders have moved in and are doing it on public land, not cleaning up after themselves, and are occasionally shooting at each other. One of the articles I read mentioned that one of the local sheriff’s department down there used a _very_ loose interpretation of California’s medical marijuana law to essentially “license” plants that were being grown by landowners on their own land so they didn’t get caught in the grow op sweeps. That seemed to me like all but admitting “well, it’s okay if _we_ grow weed here…” ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070/46 "2015-05-02T08:58:00Z")
In the UK, Steven Hyde was growing cannabis within a residential house in Manchester, North England when two men broke in to steal his crop. Hyde reacted by blasting away with a shotgun missing the thieves although damaging cars parked in the street outside. That was 2012. The UK legal process took it’s time but by April 2015 Hyde was jailed for 8 years on firearms offences. That was a light sentence reflecting the fact he didn’t hit his targets. The story doesn’t say whether he was charged with any drug offences: > **[Drug farmer jailed for trying to shoot at two men who broke into his Newton...](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/drug-farmer-jailed-trying-shoot-9157301)** > > Steven Hyde, 52, of Daisy Bank, Manchester, shot at two men he found trying to break into his home TCMF-2L [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-criminals-really-shoot-people-to-protect-their-marijuana-fileds/718070.md?page=2)