Empire of Dirt

I usually catch up on the news on the internet beacause of my weird hours with school and work. I also tend to find the weirdest stories going on in the news too... As you will soon find out, I have a weird, wry, dark sense of humor. Luckily Bagheera understands and loves my weirdness and encourages me to be me. So, here you go, I found this yesterday and have been laughing at the irony of the situation since then!

Strange News
Prison-Yard Pot Plagues Japanese Lockup
From Associated PressAugust 28, 2007 7:38 PM EDT
TOKYO - A Japanese prison is scrambling to eradicate marijuana plants that keep sprouting up on its exercise ground, officials said Tuesday.The marijuana plants started sprouting at Abashiri Prison on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido about a year ago, said prison official Takeshi Okamura. He said officials plucked out as many as 300 marijuana plants and treated the ground last year, but several more sprouted again this year.Prisoners reported them to the guards.Officials believe the plants are wild."Apparently, somebody knew how to tell marijuana from other plants," Okamura said.Local botanical experts concluded the marijuana seeds were inadvertently brought in with the soil used for the exercise ground, Okamura said."It's a headache," Okamura said. "This isn't a farm."Abashiri Prison, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) northeast of Tokyo, currently has about 1,080 male inmates serving terms of up to eight years in prison.