cannabisnews.com: Councilors View Video of Pot Arrests 





Councilors View Video of Pot Arrests 
Posted by CN Staff on August 14, 2002 at 19:59:51 PT
By Tiffany Edwards, West Hawaii Today 
Source: West Hawaii Today 
A couple of medical marijuana cardholders who were arrested and had their plants seized recently were among several people who testified Tuesday at a council Finance Committee meeting. A video of last month's arrests of John and Rhonda Robison and Kealoha "Kea" Wells, and the seizure of 20 marijuana plants, also was played for council members. 
Wells, 30, and John Robison, 36, hold Department of Public Safety - issued medical marijuana cards as they suffer from acute lympho cytic leukemia. Rhonda Robison, 31, holds a medical marijuana card for her Charco - Marie - Tooth muscular dystrophy.Not only did councilors hear the testimony of the Robisons and Wells, they heard from several others who hold medical marijuana cards, claim to be "cannabis sacrament" ministers, or both. The advocates protested what they consider to be the targeting of cardholders by police and the council's approval of federal funds to support Police Department marijuana eradication missions. The advocates' testimony was in response to council members taking up the Police Department's report for its June "Green Harvest" mission in which 14,425 plants were seized, primarily in the Puna area.Councilors also reviewed a packet containing numerous photographs of helicopters and police officers involved in the Green Harvest on private and public lands, as well as petitions against the eradication missions and a copy of the Robisons and Wells' lawsuit listing the arresting officer, Mark Farias, as the only named defendant. The packet reportedly was prepared by the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Association.Actin Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna and Lt. Henry Tavares, who leads the Hilo Vice section, sat for the two - plus hours that the marijuana advocates testified Tuesday. Mahuna told councilors the Police Department is "by no means" targeting cardholders. He said the advocates' testimony was "eye - opening" and vowed his department would abide by council members' rules and regulations, which were drafted as a condition of accepting nearly $500,000 in state and federal funds specifically for the Green Harvest missions. He said the conduct of officers involved in a recent seizure of medical marijuana is under investigation but he was interrupted by Finance Committee Chairman Aaron Chung. Chung said because of pending lawsuits, such a discussion should be conducted in executive session. Many of the advocates spoke of the "ice epidemic" and the need for the resource - strapped Police Department to combat that drug. Roger Christie, with the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry, provided council members a copy of "Ice and Other Methamphetamine Use: An Exploratory Study," which was prepared in 1994 by Patricia Morgan and four others with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study correlates the eradication of marijuana in Hawaii to the increased methamphetamine use.Asked by Kona Councilman Curtis Tyler if he believes there is an ice epidemic on this island, Mahuna acknowledged a "dramatic increase" in the use of that drug but he doesn't believe "epidemic" is an appropriate description. Tyler, who noted the Robisons and Wells are his constituents, referred repeatedly to the Police Department as a "paramilitary force outside civilian control." He told Mahuna, "Chief, you have a chance to come in with a clean slate. Get real with what is going on in this community," and see what has happened to many families in West Hawaii as a result of ice. Meanwhile, the video footage shot by Rhonda Robison shows seven officers getting out of their vehicles July 8 at her home.As police walk past the camera, a woman's voice can be heard saying, "you're not going to to harvest my plants are you?" and "we are totally legal" as the camera follows the officers to the backyard where the potted plants are kept. An officer, who is reported to be Farias with the Kona Vice section, stands in the backyard and says into the camera, "Each of the seven plants have to be definitively separated. You can't have 20 plants all together."A dog barks during the video and just before the taping stops, an officer, reported to be Lt. Robert Hickcox who leads the Kona Vice section, shouts, "I asked you to take care of this dog" and then "you guys are under arrest." "What happens to people who don't have their video camera turned on?" asked Wells, as she testified Tuesday. "No one should have to go through this. On top of not knowing whether I'm going to live or die, I have to worry about all this 'hoopla' with the Police Department."The Robisons and Wells spent eight hours at the Kealakehe station before being "released pending investigation." The county Prosecutor's Office has not yet revealed whether it will prosecute the case. Police, a week after the arrests, returned more than one ounce of dried marijuana and the 20 plants. The Robisons and their two children share the home with Wells and her 9 - year - old daughter. Robison said she had been the only one in the household working but lost her job at a Kona law firm after her arrest.She said she, her husband and Wells have never been able to "harvest our medicine" because in the 15 months they have held medical marijuana cards, police have raided their home three times, all just before harvest time. Because of the marijuana seizures, the Robisons and Wells have had to look to other sources for their medicine, Rhonda Robison said. Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)Author: Tiffany Edwards, West Hawaii Today Published: Wednesday, August 14, 2002Copyright: 2002 West Hawaii TodayContact: wht aloha.netWebsite: http://westhawaiitoday.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Hawaii Cannabis Ministryhttp://www.thc-ministry.org/ Anti-Pot Efforts Boost Ice Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13543.shtmlLawsuits Filed in Two Big Island Cases http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13515.shtmlBig Island Pot Raids Look Like a Stretch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13509.shtmlBig Island Residents Protest Drug Raids http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13487.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by RevNick on August 15, 2002 at 19:16:55 PT:
Curtis Tyler for President
Here's the only politition I've ever met that puts the constitution at the forefront of his thoughts on all of our issues. He makes it a point to announce that he doesn't smoke it, never smoked it, never wants to...but he is damned sure that most if not all of the laws against it are unconstitutional. I spoke to some friends who attended this meeting (Rev. Roger Christie...)and they said he was truely heroic. Over and over he reffered to the Big Island police as a "paramilitary force outside of civilian control". Curtis Tyler is my hero.
The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry
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