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LOCAL MARIJUANA RAID
July 2001
Early this month, a personal friend of ours, (us being the authors and creators of TheChronic) had his Medical Marijuana Cooperative Garden raided by local law enforcement. There was no search warrant, no receipt given, and the patients' prescriptions were taken; intimidation and fear were the tactics used to gain entry to the premises. These officers took it upon themselves to decide which patients were allowed to keep their plants, and which ones should not because of their inability to physically care for these plants themselves. The officers said that the garden was not in "compliance with local guidelines (which are obscure on certain points), even though each patient was growing their local limit of two (2) plants a piece (keep in mind that the State of California has set NO LIMIT). What they didn't stop to think about was that two (2)of the eight (8) plants (that were ripped out of the ground!) were for a cancer patient who was unable to do the physical work because of his medical condition, which is one of the reasons the doctors felt he qualified to use this natural remedy to ease pain and suffering. Out of six (6) patients, three (3) lost their plants because of their inactivity in this garden, and our friends were told that cooperatives were not allowed in Shasta County. Our local "law enforcement" does not understand the definition of "caregiver" outlined in the Health & Safety Code §11362.5 under Prop. 215 written by the People of the State of California which specifies if you provide for any of the following needs of a patient, you are their caregiver:
1. Housing
2. Health
3. Safety
4. Food
By providing their medication through cultivating, processing, and storing their medical marijuana, a person is providing for a patient's health--therefore meeting one of the requirements specified through the Health & Safety Code §11362.5 under Proposition 215. Cooperatives are supposed to share the work, expense, etc...which is how it is usually done; except for those who cannot--this is where work and expenses can be traded off. The police should not have any say in how cooperatives conduct their business unless it becomes a problem involving law enforcement (i.e. sales, theft, assault, etc...)
Back to the story...
Our friend and his wife, who both have prescriptions, are filing a suit against the law enforcement officers involved, and the agency that employs them. Now, these patients have lost the medication that would have lasted a year, and are going to have to find it any way they can, unless they can join an indoor cooperative garden. It is too late to start plants outdoors. Our friend had to watch these officers pull these plants after he had put "blood, sweat, and tears" into getting the ground ready and caring for the plants.
To top it all off, the officers said they had spotted the garden via air patrol, and "couldn't believe what they saw", so they watched the property for a week before coming in (all this without a search warrant).