Rather than joining any seed companies' bandwagon by merely chasing money, Neville, Howard, and I dedicated our efforts to make old and new world seeds available for growers. We did not care how many seeds we sold or whether we had a profile in the limelight. We are daily users of cannabis, and the mother and father plants Neville and I have kept alive for the last twenty years are capable of producing every currently existing strain.
In 1999, Dutch law changed and no longer permitted the production of seeds. Due to the Dutch gedogen law, however, selling seed imported from another country remained legal. We wanted to fulfil our project without breaking any country's laws. Accordingly, MNS moved its growing operations to Switzerland, where the law permits growing cannabis for seed production. Many Dutch seed companies lost plants, mother rooms, and seed crops, but in Switzerland, MNS seed production blossomed.
Neville remained in Holland and continued to produce seeds and refine breeding techniques. Howard pursued his cannabis legalisation agenda by writing articles, books, and doing stand up shows. I established Gene Bank Technology in the Swiss canton of Ticino, producing strains and seeds for other companies, as well as furthering the use of cannabis as a medicine and producing unique flower essential oils for the cosmetic industry. All went well, with Ticino eventually playing host to the legally permitted establishment of over seventy growing shops and countless farms producing seeds. The Swiss authorities regularly inspected the premises and the activities taking place, tenaciously collecting any taxes due. Then suddenly, in 2003, without any hint of a warning, a Ticino based Prosecutor launched Operation Indoor, an avalanche of arrests, closures and headlines. The Ticino authorities seized GBT, shut it down, and imprisoned scores of innocent people. To this day, a state of confusion exists in Switzerland as cantons interpret Swiss law whichever way the local politicians want. I received a two-year term of imprisonment in Ticino. (However, I still have all the mother and father plants.) Only a handful of other seed producers have faced the courts, and hundreds of cases remain unresolved.
The lack of union and cooperation among the various seed companies and the consequent frustration for the grower is an unfortunate aspect of this particular industry. To overcome the problem MNS has consistently maintained a visible presence on various helpdesks, directly interacting, testing, and researching with the growers of its products. Some other seed companies do the same. This site is an attempt to set an appropriate standard, and MNS hopes to bring to the seed industry other like-minded companies from all different sections of this sub culture. Our sincere aim is to help people, wherever they are, who have worked or intend to work with any MNS product. I will monitor the site with the explicit intention of promoting interaction and constructive criticism among growers of all levels. It will become an online archive and an educational site for anyone who visits. The site will not be selling seeds or dispatching them but will, if asked, provide links to those interested in this aspect. Live and let live will be the central theme flowing through the MNS site, so please join in if you have something to share or ask. You are all welcome.
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