A tenant recently found themselves in a prickly situation with their landlord and had the police called on them for "growing stuff" — that "stuff" being hobby cactuses.
"Learn from my mistakes. Make sure your landlord/property owners know of anything [you're] growing as a hobby, whether it be cactus or other plants," they wrote in a post shared to the r/sanpedrocactus subreddit.
They said that while they were moving out, their landlord called the police over their plants, apparently concerned they were growing something illegal, as they included at least one cactus — the San Pedro cactus — that is known to contain mescaline. In response, the police confiscated and likely destroyed all of their cactuses and other houseplants.
"All of my cactus and unrelated house plants were taken and 'destroyed,'" the Redditor wrote. "Several large crested, 20 or so 1-2 foot, and about 100 seedlings between a month and 6 months old plus 10+ other [non-San Pedro cactuses]. Several monsteras, prayer plants, large ficus tree, a dozen or more pothos, sword plants, spider plants, jades etc. were all taken as well as 'evidence' with the grow tent, lighting, ventilation, shelving, nutrients and all related equipment."
The OP further explained that it took them seven years to build up their plant collection to its current state, and that "nothing illegal was being grown." In an update, they explained that they likely would not get them back due to concerns that the plants may have been grown for substance use.
At the same time, most jurisdictions — including this Redditor's, according to their post — do not have laws against growing plants such as the San Pedro cactus or poppy flowers if they are not being cultivated for drug use. Determining that intent can be murky, however.
In a second update, they said the test results on the cactuses were positive for mescaline but that they were given no information on concentrations. "I have spoken with 3 different attorneys about my situation, and all three have a unanimous decision that the LL [landlord] and local PD [police department] are in the wrong for what they have done…" they stated. "I hope I can find some cheap plants to start building my collection again soon."
Believe it or not, this is far from unheard of. Many tenants have had similar experiences with landlords destroying their cactuses and other plants for a variety of reasons, and in this case, if the landlord believed them to be illegal, the concern is not surprising.
Unfortunately, landlords and homeowners associations have earned a bit of a bad reputation for preventing tenants from making cost-saving, eco-friendly choices like installing plants, solar panels, and more.
Legality concerns and monetary loss aside, in situations like this, the plants themselves are a significant loss. A new study has shown that exposure to indoor plants improved health after just one month. Further, gardening has been shown to improve both physical and mental health.
Many commenters were adamant that the original poster had grounds to sue, and in their second update, the OP said they had retained an attorney who agreed to take the case pro bono. While this may be an option in some cases, there are other ways to work with landlords and HOAs to change established rules and help stop these instances from happening.
Whatever the OP decides to do, commenters responded to their loss with sympathy and shock.
"That is so sad. I can't believe a landlord would do this," commented one user. "It's not like you were growing potent poppy plants and making heroin."
"Man, this sucks," agreed another. "I'm so sorry. Stuff like this infuriates me."
A third simply stated, "This hurts my soul for you OP."
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