cannabisnews.com: Doctor's Recommendation No Match for Warrant 





Doctor's Recommendation No Match for Warrant 
Posted by CN Staff on September 19, 2002 at 12:34:42 PT
By Eleanor Cameron, Staff Writer
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record 
The marijuana plants towered more than 17 feet high, visible over the roof of the shabby shack off of Wisconsin Street in Chapmantown.According to Vic Lacey, commander of the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force-North, an agent attempted to inspect the plants on Tuesday, but ran into unusual opposition from the grower, Michael Joseph Farrell, 35.
Farrell, who rents the $175-a-month one-bedroom "bungalow," climbed a ladder onto the roof and hauled it up behind him. Farrell refused to come down. He shouted for neighbors to call the media.The agent left Farrell on the roof, got a warrant and a few friends.Seven agents were joined by two deputies from the Butte County Sheriff's Office on the Wednesday raid.Once again, upon spotting the agents, Farrell ran up a ladder leaning against the south side of the shack. Again he made demands that the news media be called. This time, agents were able to talk the barefoot man off the roof.Farrell repeatedly told the agents not to "beat him up" saying, "I'm not a soldier, I'm a sick man."The agents never attempted to place Farrell in restraints. The only commands against his freedom were to stay seated on an old sofa in the back yard and not move around the property once he was off the roof.Farrell had a blown up copy of a "doctor's recommendation" stapled to his gate. The recommendation was signed by a doctor in Loomis. It did not say why the doctor recommended marijuana for Farrell.Farrell said he suffers from phantom pains. Farrell is missing one arm just below the elbow. He also said he suffers from back and neck pain from "many car wrecks." Farrell said he also has arthritis in his feet and broke both of his feet in an accident.Farrell also claimed his medicine was a treatment for his alcoholism."When I smoke it, I don't drink," he added, saying he has been sober for five years.However, Farrell admitted he has been smoking pot since the age of 14. He says he currently uses an eighth to a quarter of an ounce, not including brownie ingestion, each day. He also admitted to taking Vicodin.Farrell claimed he was growing the marijuana for others, including "an AIDS patient who lives across the street." He then said it was primarily for himself.The yard of the ancient house toward the back of a bungalow court smelled of dog feces and urine. Five dogs, including two small puppies, had the run of the yard. Agents occasionally scraped the soles of their boots on a corner of the back porch or wooden walkway.A tiny back porch was crammed full of rotting bedding and unwashed clothing. An old sofa and a chair acted as the beds for the animals.Drying marijuana buds were hung upside down across the ceiling. Stripped stems were piled up on the porch. More were in a box that once contained a child's bicycle seat.Agents found about a pound of what Farrell claimed was Mexican-grown marijuana in an old oven. Packaging material was found in the oven with the pot.Another agent found a small jar containing concentrated cannabis distilled with alcohol and mixed with honey.Inside the house, the small bathroom had been turned into a bud processing room. A plate filled with stems and leaves was on a vanity. Stalks of buds were hanging from red string strung across the bathroom.Agents found three sets of scales.Clothing was piled up on the bedroom floor and a bare mattress was on a bunk platform. A card from the memorial service of Elizabeth Rebecca Lee, a 22-year-old Chico woman who was murdered 2 1/2 weeks ago, was on a shelf near the front door.There was no stove, refrigerator or oven in the kitchen. A trap door was left partially open in the center of the floor. The sink was filled with mail.Lacey said he "tries to be reasonable" when seizing plants from the medical users. In Butte County those with a medical recommendation can have six plants and one pound of processed buds for their personal use."We'll leave something that still has bud on it, but I won't leave the big ones to get out into the community," added Lacey. Of the 18 plants that were in the ground, seven were left."That's one more than we needed to leave," Lacey pointed out. When agents began hacking down the plants, starting with one of the tallest, a group of neighbors groaned and shouted at the agents.When they finished, it was bundled together and loaded onto a pickup. Agents took it to the Chico Police Department."We will file a report with the DA's office," said Lacey. "We're charging him with cultivation, possession for sale which includes distribution." The distribution charge is supported by the scales and packaging materials.Agents seized 20 pounds of fresh marijuana and another 10 pounds of dried product.Complete Title: Doctor's Recommendation No Match for Warrant in Pot RaidSource: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)Author: Eleanor Cameron, Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, September 19, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Media News GroupContact: letters chicoer.comWebsite: http://www.chicoer.com/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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