cannabisnews.com: Pot Shots  





Pot Shots  
Posted by CN Staff on August 04, 2004 at 16:43:05 PT
By Michael Serazio 
Source: Houston Press 
The banging on the door was violent, coming around 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 27. It startled Blair Davis, the landscape contractor who lives in the little house near Highway 6 in west Houston with his two "eco-lawn mower" Barbado sheep, Bonnie and Boo. Davis was on the phone trying to set up a concrete pour for a customer's patio when the pounding began. He put down the phone and went to answer it, but within seconds the unlocked door burst open and Davis says he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun, a stream of burly officers trailing behind it."Down on the floor! Down on the floor!" they shouted at him.
"This was just pretty shocking," says Davis, who runs Great Earth Landscape out of his house. "It was just your worst nightmare. I kept saying, 'Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.' " The only things that pinched him were the steel handcuffs of the Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force. As he lay face down in his living room, his mind frantically pedaled through the possibilities: Could these be the armed robbers masquerading as cops that he heard about on the news? These intruders wore T-shirts and blue jeans, though the badges around their necks seemed real enough. The group, numbering "probably eight -- and it seemed like ten," fanned out in Davis's house, checking his claims that there was no one else around. One yanked him up by the shoulder and sat him down outside. They had a search warrant and they had come for the marijuana plants in Davis's front yard. Shocked, his confusion clicked into clarity. "You guys have made a terrible mistake," the 45-year-old says he told them. "Those are not marijuana plants; it is not cannabis sativa. Where in God's name did you get that idea? All you had to do was go up and take a close look." The plant in question, Texas star hibiscus, reaches out from the tangle of potted flora in his front yard. From a distance, its green leafy fingers, bowing under the weight of humidity, do call to mind the notorious weed that gave Cheech and Chong the munchies. "But when you walk up," Davis points out, "this smooth, green stem is nothing like the cannabis sativa. Cannabis is a very coarse, rough, almost square stem. Nothing like this stem at all. "And, of course," he says, gently caressing the cream-white crown at the top of the plant, "cannabis doesn't bloom with big beautiful white buds." "To us, it's an unfortunate thing that Mr. Davis got caught up in this situation," says Dan Webb, operations commander for the county task force involved in the raid. "But if the situation came up today, we would've probably done the same thing." According to Webb, a deputy received information from a civilian that Davis had marijuana growing at his residence, drafted a search warrant and solicited Webb's unit to help with the raid. Webb says they did surveillance and confirmed that the suspicious vegetation, in addition to golden yellow bamboo on the windowsill, appeared to be dope. He adds that, in his previous work for the domestic marijuana eradication program, Texas star hibiscus was often confused for marijuana on helicopter flybys. You don't have to tell that to Rita Hall, president of the American Hibiscus Society. "We often talk about it and laugh about it, but to my knowledge no one's ever been accused of growing marijuana," says Hall, of St. Petersburg, Florida. "I haven't heard anyone ever say someone came on their property because they thought it was marijuana." Webb says that although they were mistaken, the search itself wasn't a mistake. "It's not a mistaken search warrant," he says, reiterating that the warrant is a judge's command to investigate the premises. "This is the first time that I know of anybody growing Texas star hibiscus in their house. And it's just one of those things that, you know, if we believe it's marijuana, until we can go look at it, we're not really going to know for sure." No records are kept on the ratio of search warrants executed to actual drug busts achieved, Webb admits. He estimates that more than 90 percent of search warrants result in charges. Webb won't divulge the tipster's identity, but Davis already has an idea. Shortly after the officers released him, he went to a neighboring automotive shop run by J.R. Ramirez to find out if he knew anything, since Ramirez's business was referenced on the warrant. Ramirez said that a car repossessor, whose name he couldn't recall, had been by his shop two weeks earlier and asked if Ramirez knew what Davis was growing in his yard. Curiously, Ramirez notes, the same repo man had been spotted on the street the afternoon authorities descended on Davis's house. When the officers began leaving, removing the handcuffs from Davis, the repo guy himself apparently departed quickly. Davis, a Houston native who switched his career to landscaping from the computer industry a dozen years ago, says the deputies stayed about an hour. As time wore on and they realized his innocence, he started doing his sales pitch -- just to keep his temper down. They handed him some paperwork before departing, but no apology, he says. "At first I wanted to laugh and then cry, because it was just so crazy," says Davis. "And then I started to get mad, because this could've been solved in about 20 minutes." Note: Raiding narcs get a hibiscus low from their horticulture shock.Source: Houston Press (TX)Author: Michael Serazio Published: August 5, 2004 Copyright: 2004 New Times, Inc.Contact: feedback houstonpress.comWebsite: http://www.houston-press.com/Related Article:Police Raid House for Garden Foliage http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19282.shtml
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Comment #12 posted by john wayne on August 04, 2004 at 23:19:24 PT
pix of texas star hibiscus
http://ecolage.safeshopper.com/169/1631.htm?477http://www.westongardens.com/page%20content/plant%20library/texas%20star%20hibiscus.htm----Looks just like pot. NOT!
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Comment #11 posted by unkat27 on August 04, 2004 at 21:15:29 PT
Sue the Bastards!
This is a flagrant abuse of power. If the USA really was the land of freedom and justice that the big pigs claim it is, this kind of power abuse would not be tolerated. Sue the bastards for false arrest and invasion of privacy. The more they do this and get away with it, the more tyrannical and un-American they become. Sue the bastards on principle, so they never think they can get away with it again. Otherwise, that is exactly what they will do. They'll keep on making excuses for violating people's rights and they'll keep on getting away with it. If we don't start suing them for these things, they'll think we're all a bunch of 'girly men'. Next thing you know, they'll be raping us in prison before we're able to prove our innocence, and they'll get away with that too!
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Comment #10 posted by rchandar on August 04, 2004 at 20:08:03 PT:
mayan
yeah, "jerks" was exactly the term that came to mind for me, too. the guy sounds like he's cleaner than milk. what a stupid abuse of power, and we let it happen everyday.shocking stories like this should be circulated everywhere. it will tell the world how stupid and contrary to justice the whole war on grass is.--rchandar
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Comment #9 posted by cloud7 on August 04, 2004 at 18:41:48 PT
"Time to sharpen the machete"
I hope it's for the storm troopers and not for the bamboo."At first I wanted to laugh and then cry, because it was just so crazy," says Davis. "And then I started to get mad, because this could've been solved in about 20 minutes." Another citizen wipes the lipstick off the American pig."They handed him some paperwork before departing, but no apology, he says."That's logical, they didn't make a mistake...he did. What was he thinking growing a legal plant that resembles marijuana? He should apologize to them and thank them for not planting any evidence or shooting him.kaptinemo: "There was a time when cops knew their place"Yes, they were known as peace officers and not law enforcement officers. 
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Comment #8 posted by DevoHawk on August 04, 2004 at 18:41:21 PT
Dan Webb needs to buy back his soul
"if we believe it's marijuana, until we can go look at it, we're not really going to know for sure." But first, kick in a door down and point a gun at Blair Davis to find out what's outside; which is were they started.
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Comment #7 posted by warhater on August 04, 2004 at 18:25:19 PT:
It Was In the Front Yard
Before they accosted the innocent civilian perhaps they might have inspected the plants. I find it shocking that a narcotics task force from Houston can't tell the difference between cannabis and Texas star hibiscus. I'm kinda concerned now. There's a big patch of bamboo right out my back door. Time to sharpen the machete. 
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Comment #6 posted by mayan on August 04, 2004 at 18:12:12 PT
Jerks
"But if the situation came up today, we would've probably done the same thing." They're obviously still idiots. Even if there was cannabis growing in his front yard(yeah, right!) does that justify barging into his house with guns drawn? These fascists are way out of line!What if everyone started growing Texas star hibiscus plants? That would have these pigs running in circles. The way out is the way in...For Oil And Empire - Was 9/11 Allowed To Happen?
http://rense.com/general56/allowed.htm
 
5/22/03 Statement from FAA Contradicts 9/11 Report Findings:
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=366&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Cynthia McKinney for Congress 2004:
http://www.cynthiaforcongress.com/An open letter to 9/11 Chairman Thomas Kean from Sibel Edmonds:
http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2004-08-01-edmonds.phpInsideJob - 9/11 Review:
http://www.911review.org/Wiki/InsideJob.shtmlFahrenheit 9/11; The Other Half of the Story:
http://www.freedomforceinternational.org/freedomcontent.cfm?fuseaction=fahrenheit&refpage=issues
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Comment #5 posted by Golden Lung on August 04, 2004 at 18:06:40 PT:
Keep on checking he could be hiding Elian here
The stupidity of some cops is really laughable. Here really should of sued them for truama or do something come on.
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on August 04, 2004 at 18:02:56 PT:
Americans put up with way too much
There was a time when cops knew their place; they accepted the public's pay in exchange for job security, and were more civil to their paymasters. They were, in the strictest sense, YOUR SERVANTS. No different from any other hireling willing to take your pay for services rendered. But the War on (Some) Drugs changed all that. Now they come on like the GeStaPo and the KGB combined. They truly believe that wearing a badge and carrying a weapon somehow makes them better than the people they used to serve.One sad day, however, they will meet with someone less inclined to roll over and wet themselves and more inclined to shoot trespassers...of any sort. And ultimately, they'll have only themselves to blame.As Cicero asked so long ago: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who shall guard the guardians? Evidently, when such as they can kill children such as Esequiel Hernendez or Alberto Sepulveda, and not suffer equally for their sins, no one is. And that kind of power is anathema to a Constitutional republic as we are supposed to have; it *always* invites the inevitable abuse. As this example proves.
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Comment #3 posted by RasAric on August 04, 2004 at 17:38:53 PT
I'm pretty sure it's a rule they have to abide by
Similar to the auto insurance industry; when you are involved in an accident you are instructed upon signing the policy to never apologize as it is seen as an admission of fault/guilt. Of course then not only are you wrong, but after apology comes accountability. All of us here at Cnews know that the last thing a badge wearing thug is going to do is accept accountability without being first compelled to do so.
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Comment #2 posted by billos on August 04, 2004 at 17:25:02 PT
J.Pee Walters says..............................
"Hey, they could have been killed. It's what you call collateral damage when it involves my WoD."
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Comment #1 posted by SoberStoner on August 04, 2004 at 17:18:44 PT
Yep..we wuz wrong, but who cares?
We'll do it again cuz we gets all kinds a cash from it..yeeehaw
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