Drug Squad Confiscates 1624 Daisies in Suburban Garden Raid

[Rabaelthazar]

Original Article (with pictures):

http://theintelhub.c...an-garden-raid/

As I have explained in many previous articles, the war on drugs is a total fraud and the world would be a lot better off if there were not prohibitions on objects or nonviolent actions.

One of the most ridiculous things about the war on drugs, especially in regards to the prohibition of marijuana, is the fact that at the end of the day it’s just a plant. If you really think about it, we have come to a very strange place in society when plants are illegal.

The idea of banning plants looks even more ridiculous when a swat team shows up with a warrant to dig up and confiscate 1624 Daisies that were mistaken for marijuana.

Believe it or not, this actually really happened back in July, but news is just now starting to surface that this wasn’t a successful bust.

At the time when police were first interviewed Staff Sergeant Wes Houston said that “This is a significant bust, given the size of this operation.” As he greeted reporters he was actually proudly displaying garbage bags full of daises, thinking that he was holding marijuana.

Now months later that same officer is talking to reporters again, only this time admitting that the whole raid was a mistake.

This week he told reporters that, “In any investigation, police count public safety as our top priority, our decision to seize the plants was made with the best information we had at the time.”

It has since come forward that “the best information” they had at the time would have been enough to make any sane person think twice before schedualing a raid, or atleast before ripping the garden up.

First off this garden is in plan view, in a back yard in a suburban neighborhood where these daisies have been growing for over a decade, obviously not a drug running operation.

Ryan Thomas Rockman the owner of the garden had even told the police exactly what the plants were, yet they refused to even investigate any further, and the whole raid squad totally mistook these daisies for marijuana.

Unfortunatly for Mr. Rockman, his well-tended back yard garden wasn’t the only casualty in this act of theft, vandalism and home invasion.

Rockman freely admits smoking pot to alleviate back pain, and says he’s applied to the federal government for a medicinal marijuana license. Coincidentally, during the course of the raid, police found 1.5 pounds of marijuana and 6.3 grams of resin in Rockmans house.

Now a 41 year old grandfather who uses a safe and effective medicine to make his life easier is facing serious charges, and has his reputation totally soiled in his community.

Even though he is an open user and advocate of medical marijuana, the police have still put out official word that he was manufacturing and trafficking drugs, a situation that he says has had a significant impact on his reputation.

Prohibition advocates would say that since this search did result in confiscation of actual drugs, that the raid was warranted. However, the drugs that were found were merely an unintended consequence of a raid that never should have happened to begin with.

Nonviolent people are not criminals, and people like Mr. Rockman who use drugs responsibly are not any kind of threat to society.

What is a threat to society is the growing police state that is bringing violence upon nonviolent people, kidnapping them, putting them in cages, and robbing them of every last cent that they have over the course of their probation or parole.

 

Edited October 5, 2012 by Rabaelthazar

[Alice]

Lol, just... LOL

[IndianDreaming]

Whoops-a-daisy...

[space cadet swami]

1.5lbs is a fair amount of weed to get caught with....probably for personal use

[Sonny Jim]

maybe under the eyes of our tyrannical drug laws 1.5lb of pot is reason enough to send an adult to jail and spread all kinds of nasty rumours about the way that big bag of pot abused and traumatised their children if they have any but 1.5lb of pot is what a lot of home growers would need to produce over the summer to smoke for the rest of the year.

not saying your calling for this bloke with the daisies tyo be hurt or anything, I just like writing stuff about pot and what have you...man

[chnt]

fuck yeah, another win.

[dionysus]

so, police with 0 knowledge mistakenly raid someone with much knowledge? if the authorities can not identify even one of the easiest plants to identify, how can they assert to know the effects of said plant when smoked (better than those who smoke it)? cannabis is probably illegal on the grounds that smoking a daisy or some japanese maple made a DEA person sick in a trial in the 30's

[goneski]

I'm not sure whether this deserves a lawl, or a facepalm.. Both I guess.

[Moses]

what caused the tip off in the first place??.

hopefully not the fact that he 'd applied for a medicinal marijuana license.

[SunChaser]

cannabis is probably illegal on the grounds that smoking a daisy or some japanese maple made a DEA person sick in a trial in the 30's

 

LOL.

Not long back I was waiting outside woolworths in Townsville, just waiting for it to open so I could buy some food before I went out bush again. Two coppers rocked up and wanted to search my car, which I was more than happy it let them do (anything incriminating was well hidden). Anyway, they found my bottle of water and claimed it was a bong! Once I assured them it wasn’t they then continued the search and found some cotton buds in my glove box, which I use to clean my ears. So they made me put out my arms to check for track marks, claiming I had all the equipment to use smack.

Not quite as ridiculous as this news story, but the moral is, never under estimate the stupidity of the police.

Edited October 5, 2012 by jabez

[fydesvindico]

Edited October 5, 2012 by fydesvindico

[waterboy 2.0]

ROFL.....better hide them now

[TheExplorer]

mega fail. Want to see pictures of the cop with the bags of daisies!

 

Here you go:

[quarterflesh]

classic!

[Heretic]

surely they would have to pay compensation ?

[Auxin]

Probably not, the 1.5 lbs of pot would have been more than enough to protect the cops.

I got raided once on a false and totally ridiculous charge made my a 12 year old that was pissed at me and I got caught with far less than that much pot. The cops took us aside and said if we give no trouble then the pot will appear to be for personal use. We agreed. They proceeded to rob us. Gold bars, platinum rings, lab gear, books, cash... a sizable loss but still cheaper than a lawyer and a court battle.

Cops may not know a marijuana bud from a bundle of kale, but they know how to abuse the system.

Not quite as ridiculous as this news story, but the moral is, never under estimate the stupidity of the police.

 

And never consent to a search. Your lucky they didnt find where you sneezed on the dash board and called the goo GHB

[incognito]

Those retards should be sacked for incompetenece and a drastic waste of tax payers money. Surely at cop school u need to know what a dope plant is?

[dionysus]

Those retards should be sacked for incompetenece and a drastic waste of tax payers money. Surely at cop school u need to know what a dope plant is?

 

it's worse even than that. they had 1.5 lbs of reference material... surely they noticed the look, smell, taste, and feel of the daisies was off. probably only when one of the corrupt arse holes pinched some to smoke for himself, though (this statement is unfounded, but, still...)

[SunChaser]

And never consent to a search. Your lucky they didnt find where you sneezed on the dash board and called the goo GHB

 

Yeah, that may be good advise, from a legal perspective.

But in reality, when you’re sitting outside a shopping centre early in the morning (or late at night) and your approached by two coppers, who already know you have a history of being caught with cannabis, then by the time they ask you to consent to a search, they have already decided to search your car.

Not much you can do about it. Getting angry and carrying on about rights & probable cause is just going to piss them off and make them look harder. It can also actually lead to further police harassment.

From my experience, best thing to do is just be polite and act like you have absolutely nothing to be worried about. If you play it like that, then they’ll usually just be cool and leave ya alone after that.

If you’ve got something incriminating in your car that can be found from a quick search, then it’s your own fault for being so lazy.

[cactuscarl]

I would charge then 20 bucks for every daisy they pulled out that should cover the fine and then some

[Heretic]

Not all cops are mongrels - I know a guy in search and rescue . And long ago a highway patrolman in Coff's would cruise and town on Xmas day , and invite " orphans " to his home for Xmas lunch with his family . Having said that , I have also encountered some real mongrels in my time - I fail to understand why some believe they can steal or do what they like to " crims " , or those despicable weed smokers and other folk they may have some evidence against .