cannabisnews.com: Santa Ana Police Disregard the Law





Santa Ana Police Disregard the Law
Posted by FoM on September 09, 2001 at 14:17:27 PT
Commentary
Source: Orange County Register
There is a simple, common-sense way for police to handle a situation in which they find somebody growing marijuana who claims to be a patient authorized - as patients with a doctor's recommendation have been since November 1996 under California law - to possess, use and cultivate cannabis. They can take photographs, take copies of documentation and perhaps a few samples and tell the person something like: We're going to check this out very carefully, and if you turn out to be a phony we'll be back to arrest you. 
Time-dated photographs and small samples should be plenty to make a case should the person turn out to be a recreational user or somebody growing marijuana for the black market. There is no need to take the plants on this first visit. If the person does turn out to be a bona fide patient the police will have to return the plants. That's not the way the Santa Ana Police handled Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient Doctor Nurse Support Group, Thursday night when they visited his house in Santa Ana. Mr. Chavez, who suffers from the degenerative spinal disorder ankylosing spondylitis, showed them the letter from his doctor and support group material. All the plants he was growing were identified with signs as being medical marijuana grown legally under Section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code. The police, according to Mr. Chavez, commented on the signs. They tore out all the plants, ransacked his house and his garage, took his computer, video camera and numerous tapes, disks and records. Mr. Chavez was not arrested or charged with a crime. The police told him they needed the plants as evidence so the district attorney can decide whether to file charges. That was completely unnecessary, unprofessional and should be viewed by any decent citizen as unconscionable. Section 11362.5 has been the law in California since November 1996, when the people approved Prop. 215, the Compassionate Use Act. It states: "Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes for the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician." That's pretty clear. The police are to leave medical marijuana patients alone. They can check on their recommendations to make sure they are valid, and can make sure the physicican who issued a recommenation is licensed. They might even ask the patient what condition he has, although the law does not specifically authorize them to inquire beyond whether the patient has a physician's recommendation. If a patient is bona fide, the possession and cultivation laws "shall not apply." How difficult could it be to train officers in such a simple procedure? For a bona fide patient, as the Orange County District Attorney's office explicitly acknowledged that Mr. Chavez is during previous court proceedings, having growing plants confiscated amounts to severe punishment. In Mr. Chavez's case he was deprived of the medicine that gives him relief from his chronic pain, and the plants that he hoped would supply his medical needs for a year. Not to mention the suffering and inconvenience involved in having the police poke through your house for five hours while you lie on the sofa in pain, forbidden to medicate yourself. A Santa Ana police spokesman told us the case was pursued like any other marijuana-growing case. The quantity of plants - about 40 in various stages of growth - raised questions about whether it was all for personal use. Treating a medical marijuana case like any other growing case is precisely what is wrong here. The police should have developed procedures that respect the rights voters gave to patients while safeguarding against diversion. Mr. Chavez probably has grounds for a lawsuit that could cost Santa Ana taxpayers plenty. The Santa Ana Police Department has some explaining - and with any luck some training to do.  Source: Orange County Register (CA)Published: Sunday, September 9, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The Orange County RegisterContact: letters link.freedom.comWebsite: http://www.ocregister.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htm46 Marijuana Plants Seized from Activist http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10854.shtmlPot Club Founder's Crop Seized http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10853.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by greenfox on September 10, 2001 at 09:09:48 PT
Uncle Sam, we're in a jam
Uncle Sam will rape you in the nightUncle Sam will see your pretty lightUncle Sam will know what you've been tokin'Uncle Sam will will smell what you've been smokin'Uncle Sam will take from you your thingsUncle Sam knows how much a house bringsUncle Sam will sell it with a laughUncle Sam will mow all in its pathRuthless sale of your identityRuthless sale of the "land of the free"Guns around, the police are shootingThe sheep the baaaw and look away from the lootingUncle Sam will rape your sister and call `er a whoreThen he'll blame it on the Comlumbian warUncle Sam will shoot you in the eyeUncle Sam does it for the kids, no lie....sig,fik,-gf
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Comment #5 posted by lookinside on September 09, 2001 at 19:10:02 PT:
if cops can't be held ...
personnally accountable for violations of this kind, therules need to be changed...
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Comment #4 posted by Ed Carpenter on September 09, 2001 at 18:15:23 PT:
Santa Ana Police Disregard the Law
The previous comment about the cops not caring because the taxpayers will cover it is true. However, a letters of complaint about the individual cops going into their individual records can't hurt.Eventually every dog has his day. 
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Comment #3 posted by sam adams on September 09, 2001 at 17:59:20 PT
right lookinside
A huge settlement from the County will no doubt result from the lawsuit....as will numerous lawsuits being pursued in Placer County. The sad thing is, the cops don't care because the taxpayers will cover everything in the end. The P.D. won't suffer for it. 
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on September 09, 2001 at 16:36:47 PT
this is a good article
..and it's wonderful to see it in the Register...It's quite rareto see apiece like this,that has no author,,speak in such alogical way,,and be critical of questionable law enforcementprocedures....This would actually have a hard time being called "law enforcement",it seems to me that it was the opposite of law enforcement,whateverthat would be. This puts a nice highlight on out of control police actions,and senselessabuse of already excessive authority......dddd
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Comment #1 posted by lookinside on September 09, 2001 at 15:42:38 PT:
jeeeeezus!!
if there is any justice, he'll have cops on their hands andknees in the backyard of his new mansion pulling weeds outwith their teeth around his gold plated raised bed medicalpot garden...
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