Owner wants police held responsible for destroyed medical marijuana

[tekisui]

David Edwards and Adam Doster
Published: Tuesday December 4, 2007

The return of marijuana plants to a Colorado couple is being interpreted by some as a milestone in the debate over medical marijuana.

A Colorado District Court Judge ordered police to hand back 39 marijuana plants to James and Lisa Masters more than a year after it was seized from their home. One problem: the plants were dead.

"The Fort Collins police absolutely did not obey the state law," says the Masters' attorney. "The medical marijuana law in Colorado could not be clearer."

The plants were not usable, according to Masters. "This was a bag of marijuana that they had preserved," he says. "Now, it's completely full of mold." The Masters were also returned drug paraphernalia, which was broken.

The Masters contend the plants were worth around $100,000, and they will ask the judge for that much in compensation.

more: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Owner_wants_police_held_responsible_for_1204.html

I've never heard of a cop having to give some bud back. This could be a great turning point. Medicinal marijuana should be completely legal. And anyone who deals with the stresses of life should be allowed to use it, if they chose.

[Flatline]

1. Yeah but you know about those Pot Heads right?

All the do is smoke pot then go out in public and take advantage of our soft drink and snacks like potato chips, twinkies, and yes they even go and BUY boxes of Frosted Shredded Wheat cause of the great sugar taste in the mouth when milk of all things are added......This is an outrage we need to stop this uncaring attitude of our munchies it is not right at all.:sarcasm:

[splat]

2. Plants worth $100,000? n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Depending on the grade

VERY possible with 38 plants.

[bpeale]

5. medical marijuana is of the highest grade

[tridim]

9. Usually, but it really depends on the skill of the grower

and if they were actually growing med grade genetics.

[ShaneGR]

17. A typical plant yields an ounce tops

38 ounces= a little over 2 pounds, So $50,000 a pound. Man, that pot better walk, talk, do the dishes, massages, and make you feel better too.

The thing is, the police always use outrageous "street values" when making drug arrests, it makes their cases look better. That's what happened in this case, but its backfiring on them.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. A typical plant yields an ounce?

Damn, dude, what kind of Bengawi Crotch Weed you been growin'? :smoke: Seriously, the plants I'm familiar with will yield a 1/2 pound to a pound of good, solid bud per plant. Street value is about $50.00 per one-eighth of an ounce = $400.00/oz. X 16 oz. to a pound = $6,400.00 per plant X 38 plants = $243,000. OK, their math may be a little fuzzy but that's still some serious scratch for 38 little plants.

[tridim]

8. Only because they're evil.

If they were plants that Gawd made they would be free. :sarcasm:

[catmandu57]

3. I read this story a week or so ago

There was speculation here that the plants would be destroyed, the cops are throwing a temper tantrum like a three year old in the grocery store. I bet their next move is to sic the feds on them.

[fizzgig]

6. here's a similar story from california

SANTA ANA – The Garden Grove Police Department must return seized marijuana to a medical marijuana patient, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday, sending a strong warning to police agencies statewide who engage in such seizures.

In a published opinion, a three-justice panel from the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that police should adhere to state law, which legalizes medical marijuana, and give back 8 grams of the drug to Felix Kha of Garden Grove, who had the drug taken from him more than two years ago during a traffic stop.

Garden Grove argued officers should not give the drug back because it would be a violation of federal law, which considers marijuana contraband.

But in a 41-page ruling, justices said Kha, a medical marijuana patient, has a right to get his property back, and that its return would not affect federal law enforcement.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/marijuana-law-kha-1931328-state-garden

[Wizard777]

11. There was also a guy from Cali that had his plants seized. He had prescription insurance and

submitted a claim for the plants. They rejected the claim for his medical marijuana. So he sued them. The insurance company was ordered by a california court to pay the man 500.00 per plant.

[Kajsa]

7. Isn't it damn interesting that the Repubs,

the ones who supposedly champion state rights,
have an administration that will send out the feds
in a heartbeat to raid and seize medicinal pot plants
from cannibis stores and private homes,

in a state that voted to legalize it!

[sarcasmo]

10. Legalize it already, and a swift Kick.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Legalize it, Regulate it, Tax it. Enough, already. Pot prohibition is beyond goofy.

Dumb fucking idea.

[killbotfactory]

13. But it's okay when cops break the law

Didn't you know?

[mike_c]

15. not only have cops given back medical marijuana after being ordered...

...by state judges, DENVER cops have done it:

http://www.freecolorado.com/2005/03/return.html

Sounds like they screwed the pooch this time, however.

[DCKit]

16. Sounds as if the maladministration may have pushed these "activist" judges over the line...

States rights is a huge component of the backlash, but I think it's got just as much to do with the shredding of the Constitution and the future threats these judges envision if they don't begin to act immediately to halt the rise of domestic fascism.

I'm not too hopeful that weed will be legalized/normalized anytime soon since it would replace too many insanely profitable prescription drugs. The drug companies and the politicians they own won't go down easily, except on each other, of course.