A couple hours after a DirecTV worker saw marijuana and hashish inside a bedroom closet of Ross Taylor’s Gilbert home during the installation process of a satellite dish, 12 Gilbert police officers wearing masks and toting guns busted into his house and took his pot.
Taylor, 35, is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient under Arizona’s new voter-approved law, who said he uses it for a severe loss of appetite and sleep due to post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
But police said Taylor was not in legal possession of about 2 ounces of pot and a small amount of hashish that officers confiscated with some paraphernalia from his Gilbert home in the 7100 block of South Fawn Avenue on June 9.
Whether legitimate medical marijuana patients will become targets of prosecution involving how they obtained marijuana remains to be seen, as no such cases have reached the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, but Taylor said he believes the satellite worker overstepped his bounds by calling police after he showed him his medical marijuana card.
“The worker saw the marijuana in my closet and I told him, ‘Don’t get weird on me, I’m a medical marijuana patient,’ ” Taylor said. “He proceeded to tell me he was OK with it, and that he voted for it. I feel the police overreacted.”
Arizona voters approved medical marijuana with Proposition 203 in the November general election, and regulations were finalized in April, but police said there still is no legal way marijuana can be obtained as no dispensaries have been opened or licensed to sell it.
Taylor, who also lives in Prescott, was moving into his Gilbert residence at the time he was handcuffed and cited. He told the Tribune on Friday that he received a call from Gilbert police Cmdr. Ken Buckland, who told him on Thursday they were going to try to charge him for possession of a narcotic drug and possession of paraphernalia because he said he bought the marijuana from another person.
Taylor owns Cannabis Patient Screening Centers, a company that refers patients to doctors for medical marijuana purposes.
“People are masking themselves as medical marijuana dispensaries, but no one is licensed to sell it and no dispensaries are open, yet,” said Sgt. Bill Balafas, a Gilbert police spokesman. “Gov. Jan Brewer is waiting on a response from the federal government, because although we’re following state law, selling and distributing marijuana violates federal laws.”
As for the number of officers that responded to Taylor’s home, Balafas said, it’s not unusual to have that many officers respond. “There were five undercover officers and seven from the criminal apprehension team,” he said.
“By law, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the cards issued to medical marijuana patients, does not release the names of the patients. We don’t know if someone is a medical marijuana patient and possesses a card until we ask them.”
Balafas also told the Tribune on Friday that the satellite worker who reported the possession told investigators that Taylor said he was selling the marijuana, which is illegal.
“That’s not what I said,” Taylor told the Tribune. “I said I got it from someone in Prescott. I freely received it from them.”
Taylor said if he is charged he will fight prosecution with the help of an attorney.
Under provisions in the Medical Marijuana Act, there are three ways a medical marijuana patient can legally obtain the drug: through a dispensary, through a caregiver or from another medical marijuana patient.
Legally, medical marijuana patients can possess up to two and a half ounces of marijuana. Buying it from someone else is illegal, according to the state Health Department.
Three workers for the Phoenix-based company All My Sons Moving and Storage, who were moving items into Taylor house at the time officers executed a search warrant, also were handcuffed.
“A couple of the guys were upstairs and heard someone shout, ‘Gilbert police!’ and they thought somebody was joking,” said Kevin Anderson, a manager for All My Sons. “The workers were detained, police confiscated the pot and then our guys finished their job.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of red tape involved,” Anderson said of the issue.
Meanwhile, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office still is waiting to see if there will be an onslaught of cases involving people who possess marijuana for medical purposes. It isn’t known whether the office will receive Taylor’s case.
“This is all new to us,” said Jerry Cobb, a spokesman in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. “One of the problems we have with the law is that it’s vague, but we have been very careful not to create a road map and create a criteria that would lead to formal charging. So far, no agencies have submitted any cases for formal charging involving marijuana medical card carriers. Either people aren’t being caught, or if they are being caught, agencies aren’t submitting them to us.”
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
PeacefulCat posted at 4:39 pm on Fri, Jun 17, 2011.
Put Direct TV on the boycott list first of all.
2nd the installer should be fired.
3rd still doing more time in AZ for marijuana then rape , child molestation or murder. SICKENING!
albundy posted at 5:22 pm on Fri, Jun 17, 2011.
Seems some of these swat teams have watched to many movies was this really necessary to have 12 cops storm the place over 2 0z of pot?
DeeDShell posted at 5:23 pm on Fri, Jun 17, 2011.
IF this pothead broke the law, as in left the starting gate too soon, cuff him. Against the law/illegal means exactly that...tough, bud!
spanky posted at 10:16 pm on Fri, Jun 17, 2011.
Patient is the term, and he was within his rights. If these assaults on patients continue I imagine an attorney will share in lawsuits that will make the mind boggle.
The law is supposed to protect these people that have jumped through major hoops to be legal, unlike the illegals that have done nothing but suck on a once prosperous nations compassion. Cuff them instead of allowing them to vote.
Once again through the magnificence of a " specialized swat team" 12 angry men in flac jackets ready to rumble, and of course the keen eye and patriotic beliefs of "Larry the cable guy" evil has been thwarted to the tune of about $30k . After it is thrown out of court the cost will rise. DeeD you will pay for it .......thats tuff bud
FreedomWhere posted at 1:08 am on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Neighbors turning in neighbors, hmm this place is sounding less and less like America. Maybe we can gas some religious minority next. I think there is a prominent one in the East Valley they can start with.
John Q Public posted at 2:49 am on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Don't really care about pot other than to say when my father was dieing of cancer of the esophagus in 1983. He was dieing a horrible death on chemotherapy. One of my brothers scoring him some pot was the only thing that prevented him from putting a bullet through his brain for 6 months (my fathers words not mine)
The reason I am responding is that I find it absolutely insane that the Gilbert Police department is citing violation of federal law for this enforcement action.
For the same reason the US Court of Appeals has ruled it is unconstitutional for the State to enforce immigration law, which is Federal Law, Can someone tell me how the State or Local police enforcing Federal drug laws is any different?
Seems to me, States should be free to enforce all federal law, or prohibited from enforcing any of them. Doesn't make any sense that the Federal government can choose which ones the state cannot enforce and the states/local police can choose which ones they want to enforce.
colt6920 posted at 9:36 am on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Of course this happened in Gilbert. What do you expect from the worst police department in the valley???
Phil DeBoll posted at 10:10 am on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Cable Guy needs a good as.s kicking.
Police have to wear masks now,,,? Why? Starting to sound like the freakin Spanish inquisition.
Does anyone need more proof that we are living in a police State when it comes to the issue of Cannabis? read this
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tucson-swat-team-defends-shooting-iraq-marine-veteran/story?id=13640112
RE- Legalize Cannabis
Leon Ceniceros posted at 11:18 am on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
PUT THE BONG DOWN AND READ THE LAW.
The Federal Controlled Substances Act or 1970 allows Marijuana (the Feds call it = marihuana) to be moved or removed all together from being a ...SCHEDULE 1 SUBSTANCE.
Who can...."move or remove"....you are asking ?????
1. The Congress of the United States of America (fat chance with a Republican controlled House of Representatives.
now who or what could be the "OTHER" ENTITY....that can make Mary Jane = LEGAL............................THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE = THAT'S WHO.
YUP, your (not mine, that's for sure...I may like Chinese food but I ain't from Manchuria.....lol)..........President, Barack Hussein Obama or Barry Soetoro or Harrison J. Bounel or what ever name he is going by today.....CAN REMOVE MARIHUANA FROM BEING A...SCHEDULE 1 (may not be prescribed by a physician because it has no acceptable medical use)...SUBSTANCE.
SO GET ON YOUR CELL PHONE, I-POD, LAND LINE...WHATEVER...AND CALL THE WHITE HOUSE AND TELL THE ....OCCUPANT....YOU WANT YOUR ...MARY JANE...NOT NEXT YEAR, NOT NEXT MONTH, NOT TOMORROW BUT.................YESTERDAY.................[beam]
Phil DeBoll posted at 5:24 pm on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Leon, Yup, pretty sure he will get right on that.
TheBigCannabisLie posted at 6:00 pm on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
Boycott Direct T.V. AMEN!!
And get this guy a team of serious lawyers who won't back down and will prosecute and sue these criminals who broke into this man's home and stole his property (are there some wealthy folk who don't think this is right?).
Direct T.V. is apparently part of America's Stasi 2.0. Put them on the Stasi-list and make sure they don't come into your house or park too long outside your house.
When you consider our govt has been CAUGHT spying on vegans, home-schoolers, anti-fluoride people, Nuns protesting war in complete silence -- all since 9-11 -- and you consider the U.S. has the largest incarceration population in the world, it is very difficult making the case that America is still the "Land of the Free."
Check out this state-by-state map/list of examples of law enforcement or govt agencies who have been CAUGHT spying on Americans, who were peacefully exercising their first-amendment protected speech:
http://www.aclu.org/spy-files/spying-first-amendment-activity-state-state
(if link doesn't work, put the web address into Google Search and you'll find the list).
This is horrifying.
AZMomma posted at 6:29 pm on Sat, Jun 18, 2011.
<---PRO Medical usage. BUT...this idiot, supposedly smart enough to get a business permit to begin a Dispensary keeps his stash hidden in a closet. Somehow a person doing repair/install has to access his closet? Hummmm. I smell a rat here. Doesn't matter if it was a TV installer....just keep your friggin' mouth shut. I think the Direct TV guy was a total rat-snitch, and needs to be slapped or fired. It also could make Mr Taylor the perfect target for local rip offs and burglaries.
But...Mr Taylor is really too dumb to be taken seriously. He claims PTSD, I say he suffers from being TFS (Too F**'g Stupid)
CodedInk posted at 11:16 am on Sun, Jun 19, 2011.
AZMomma, sitting here talking about something you know nothing about. I do not own a dispensary or a license for one. You call me dumb but you don't even know me. Your the one spreading false info your just as bad as the snitch. Just SHUT your mouth. Please, just reading your words makes me sick.
HumanFirst posted at 5:40 pm on Sun, Jun 19, 2011.
I'm appalled that the majority of voters in AZ who approved the Medical Marijuana law are being totally disregarded, and the patients are being thought of only as stoners and criminals. Where is your compassion for other humans? What makes the guy on anti-depressants, anxiety pills, pain pills, and likely alcohol, any less of a crazy stoner? They are all drugs.
The Direct TV guy, and possibly the police department (don't know all of the facts), really crossed the line. I agree with a Boycot of Direct TV. And I believe the citizens of AZ should expect the state empowered police to enforce state law, and to not have to worry about the state empowered police enforcing Federal law. And I think the Feds should drop the opposition to medical MJ.
RationalHuman posted at 8:53 pm on Sun, Jun 19, 2011.
Are these some of the same "law enforcement" who look the other way when it comes to illegal aliens and claim "we don't enforce Federal law"?
Well. what's their excuse NOW?
All 13 of the thugs that victimized this man need to be brought up on charges.
malcolmkyle posted at 11:11 am on Mon, Jun 20, 2011.
If you are a Prohibitionist then you owe us answers to the following questions:
#1. Why do you rejoice at the fact that we have all been stripped of our 4th amendment rights and are now totally subordinate to a corporatized, despotic government with a heavily armed and corrupt, militarized police force whose often deadly intrusions into our homes and lives are condoned by an equally corrupt and spineless judiciary?
#2. Why do you wish to continue to spend $50 billion a year to prosecute and cage your fellow citizens for choosing drugs which are not more dangerous than those of which you yourself use and approve of such as alcohol and tobacco?
#3. Do you honestly expect the rest of us to look on passively while you waste another trillion dollars on this ruinously expensive garbage policy?
#4. Why are your waging war on your own family, friends and neighbors?
#5. Why are you so complacent with the fact that our once 'free & proud' nation now has the largest percentage of it's citizenry incarcerated than any other on the entire planet?
#6. Why are you helping to fuel a budget crisis to the point of closing hospitals, schools and libraries?
#7. Why do you rejoice at wasting precious resources on prohibition related undercover work while rapists and murderers walk free, while additionally, many cases involving murder and rape do not even get taken to trial because law enforcement priorities are subverted by your beloved failed and dangerous policy?
#8. Why are you such a supporter of the 'prison industrial complex' to the extent of endangering our own children?
#9. Will you graciously applaud, when due to your own incipient and authoritarian approach, even your own child is caged and raped?
* It is estimated that there are over 300,000 instances of prison rape a year. * 196,000 are estimated to happen to men in prison. * 123,000 are estimated to happen to men in county jail. * 40,000 are estimated to be committed against boys in either adult prisons or while in juvenile facilities or lock ups. * 5000 women are estimated to be raped in prison.
http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/RapeInPrison.html
#10. And will you also applaud when your own child, due to an unnecessary and counter productive felony conviction, can no longer find employment?
Private prisons are publicly traded and their stock value is tied to the number of inmates. Here's what the UK Economist Magazine thinks of the situation: "Never in the civilised world have so many been locked up for so little" http://www.economist.com/node/16636027
According to Paul Craig Roberts, a former editor of the Wall Street Journal and former assistant secretary to the treasury under Ronald Reagan, "Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists as the greatest threat to the American public."
"Narcotics police are an enormous, corrupt international bureaucracy and now fund a coterie of researchers who provide them with ‘scientific support’, fanatics who distort the legitimate research of others. The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents." – William F. Buckley, Commentary in The National Review, April 29, 1983, p. 495
There is no conflict between liberty and safety. We will have both or neither. William Ramsey Clark (1927--)
AZ Native posted at 7:57 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
I may change from DISH to Direct TV just because of that installer doing the RIGHT thing and reporting a drug dealer. Until the dealer has legitimate license to grow and dispense marijuana he is breaking the law and should be reported...and , since when is hashish considered legal in AZ? Spank that bad boy and send him to jail. He is part of what is wrong with this country right now.
AZ Native posted at 7:59 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
Azmama- you sound like an uneducated idiot.
RationalHuman posted at 10:43 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
AZ Native, speaking of uneducated idiots, do you even know what hashish is, or what it is made from?
Do you praise coffee while demonizing caffeine pills too? Do you even realize how stupid that is?
And you must have secret information regarding this story, since nowhere does it (or the victim) make the claim of being a dealer or dispensing marijuana.
YOU and your ignorant, bigotted ilk are what's wrong with this country...now, in the past...and sadly, in the future.
RationalHuman posted at 10:44 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
Begin typing here...Oh
RationalHuman posted at 10:45 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
Oh, and AZ Native?
You stated "Until the dealer has legitimate license to grow" - nevermind that you keep calling him a "dealer", he DOES have legitimate license to grow marijuana, it comes with the card.
Try to learn something about the subject before making yourself look like an illiterate dolt.
RationalHuman posted at 10:58 am on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
"..police said there still is no legal way marijuana can be obtained as no dispensaries have been opened or licensed to sell it."
Which police department said this?
Because they are LYING.
A medical marijuana patient can LEGALLY obtain marijuana from another card holder who has grown it - SERIOUSLY YOU IDIOTS, READ THE LAW!
RationalHuman posted at 3:27 pm on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
"So far, no agencies have submitted any cases for formal charging involving marijuana medical card carriers. Either people aren’t being caught, or if they are being caught, agencies aren’t submitting them to us.”
You might want to investigate the Maricopa Country Sheriff's Office - they're currently having a blast harrassing cancer patients, robbing them of their medication, and throwing them in a cell for a night without their cancer medication or access to clean water...all without charging them with a crime.
DrJCA1 posted at 7:25 pm on Tue, Jun 21, 2011.
I've stopped watching TV because the stuff on the internet is way sadder or funnier than anything on the b00b-tube. I suppose it took 12 cops for this case because Gilbert is a relatively safe community, so they had to practice SWAT tactics somehow.. However, extrapolating this, it would take 148 officers to storm a house if the perpetrator was, let's say, hiding cocaine or threatening to shoot himself. God, I love you down there. Still working on my return. PS: I had to use zeros for o's because the paper said it was profanity. Heh, heh. Schmucks.
NastyDan posted at 1:50 pm on Wed, Jun 22, 2011.
This story is sad and pathetic. Almost everywhere you look, people are scaling down, tightening their belts - the economy sucks, people are struggling everywhere - even government agencies are cutting back. But the Gilbert PD has the scratch to commit *12* sworn officers to SWAT-style raid to liberate a Medical Marijuana user of a small amount of his personal-use medicine. Pathetic.
I hope there's a special place in hell for prohibitionists.
Arizona Willie posted at 4:42 pm on Wed, Jun 22, 2011.
Governor Brewer was against the Medical Marijuana law. She has NO AUTHORITY under State law to tell State employees to refuse to issue the permits required under the law. She DOES NOT have the legal power to stop implementation of a law because she doesn't like it.
The media constantly accuses Sheriff Joe of abusing his authority in enforcing Federal Laws and State laws against illegal immigration --- but they say NOTHING when Governor Brewer abuses her authority by telling state employees to refuse to do their duty under the legal Marijuana Law.
I believe she is actually committing a CRIME by telling state employees to refuse to do what the law requires.
At the very least she should be RECALLED for thumbing her nose at the will of the people.
She knows perfectly well that the Feds have NEVER arrested a State employee for doing his job under the State's Medical Marijuana law.
She is trying to delay and get the Feds to declare Arizona's Medical Marijuana law void.
PS I am not a marijuana user and have no financial interest in the dispensaries. But the law is the law and she has no legal right to set it aside because she is opposed to it. The people have spoken.
NumberOne1AZfan posted at 7:11 am on Fri, Jun 24, 2011.
It will take a 2nd vote for Medical Marijuana to become available.
Arizona voters must vote that conniving , back-stabbing Brewer out of office.
She is fighting the law by hook or crook.
Next election ... send the witch back to OZ
RationalHuman posted at 7:26 am on Fri, Jun 24, 2011.
According to the Arizona Constitution, Brewer cannot run again.
To do so would violate the law and Brewer would never...oh, never mind!
WylieDog posted at 5:04 am on Sat, Jun 25, 2011.
From what I've read, under the Arizona medical mj law you are allowed to grow it if there are no dispensaries within 25 miles of your residence. And there are currently no dispensaries anywhere. And getting it from a 'caregiver' is also legal, and I'm pretty sure caregivers are allowed to charge to cover their costs of growing under the law.
It seems the police are breaking state law to enforce federal law.
Barney Frank and Ron Paul just introduced H.B. 2306, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011, go to this site to post comments to Congress -
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr2306
Let's end this madness and legalize it once and for all - like alcohol and tobacco. If marijuana is a class 1 narcotic, then what the heck is alcohol considering it's a million times more intoxicating and can kill you (unlike marijuana)? Are we not all adults, free to make our own decisions/choices? Bad laws are meant to be broken, just like the prohibition of alcohol, in a free society. Marijuana has always been federally misclassified. Why? The Pharmacy Board has once again voted to keep marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance, right up there with heroin and LSD. Did anyone catch this recent article?
Misclassification Behind Medical-Marijuana Fiasco
Source: azcentral.com
Here's an excerpt from a recent newspaper article on the subject of legalization:
"The moral case for legalization stems from a reverence for individual autonomy — the notion that each of us owns his own body, and none of us has the right to tell another what to do with it. Family and friends might plead with someone to change his ways, but the government has no moral authority to make him. Conservatives, who generally abhor government paternalism and consider freedom an unalloyed good, do not look nimble when they clumsily pirouette from denouncing Obamacare and the food police to embracing life sentences for pot smokers."
As noted in another newspaper article in Connecticut:
"The time has come for Connecticut to join the other states in decriminalizing marijuana. The House has passed this decriminalization legislation, and the governor should sign it to be enacted into law."
The time has come for Arizona too, but we're still living in the dark ages of prohibition, like alcohol prohibition of the1930's. We need to quit wasting taxpayer money chasing a plant.
If the state is so poor that they have to keep cutting and cutting AHCCCS for the poor, elderly, and disabled, and cities are so poor jobs and services have been and are being cut, how is it Gilbert can afford the manpower of 12 officers to raid a harmless registered mj user? How much did that cost the town of Gilbert? How much will the court costs cost? I wonder if he can sue Gilbert? If he can, how much will that cost Gilbert?
Source: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT):
The parallels of marijuana prohibition and alcohol prohibition are pretty clear. Alcohol prohibition was a huge failure that gave rise to organized crime in this country. Simply put, marijuana prohibition is not working.
Study after study demonstrates that, generally speaking, marijuana is safe and there is no credible evidence to suggest the use of marijuana leads to using other drugs ( the so-called "gateway" argument ). In a society that regulates alcohol and prescription drugs, the prohibition on marijuana is illogical.
Worse yet, our current policy of prohibition encourages a disrespect of the law. In a country where more than 100 million people admit to using marijuana, we know that there are many more who do not admit to using it and, in many cases, they are all willfully violating the law. Recent statistics show that more than 800,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year ( almost 10,000 in Connecticut ). More than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the past decade. Almost 90 percent of these arrests were for simple possession, not trafficking or sale ( in Connecticut more than 75 percent were for possession of less than a half-ounce ).
_____________________________________________________________
Another excerpt from yet another article:
"This madness has to end. Let’s legalize pot and move on."
Source: komonews.com
Copyright: Fisher Communications, Inc.
Website: Ken Schram: It's time to end the marijuana madness
Go here, tell Congress enough's enough:
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr2306
wangly posted at 7:35 pm on Thu, Nov 8, 2012.
University of Los Angeles, estimates that about 25,000 transgender Americans Americans replica designer handbags Americans could be disenfranchised in the upcoming election because of
patchwork of voter ID laws.And it's not just voter ID ID cheap louis vuitton handbags ID requirements that are the problem.Poll workers have discretion in
voters a regular ballot or a provisional ballot, and bias bias replica louis vuitton handbags bias could still affect who gets to vote. Provisional ballots
also be counted differently from regular ones.Yan said he had had cheap replica handbags had been "humiliated" when a poll worker "made a big
and asked him if he was "sure" he'd had a a cheap replica handbags a gender change."She was yelling it out loud -- loud
for the rest of the polling booth to hear," Yan Yan cheap replica louis vuitton handbags Yan said.New York does not require voter ID, but advocates
the process is hard enough when a person is transgender."There transgender."There louis vuitton alma transgender."There is discrimination against trans people," said Mara Keisling, executive
of the National Center for Transgender Equality, which is on on louis vuitton monogram on a mission to get transgender Americans to the polls."Voting
a perfect storm," she said. "There are ID documents and and louis vuitton outlet and authorities with discretion. When people are given discretion, trans
get hurt."Studies on the transgender community have also found that that replica louis vuitton handbags that they are more often than not economically disadvantaged and
more likely to change addresses or even be homeless, making making cheap replica designer handbags making it harder to register to vote.When it's difficult to
wangly posted at 6:31 pm on Sun, Nov 11, 2012.
ving Experience at the Walt Walt cheap replica handbags Walt Disney World Speedway will hand over the keys to
Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi R8 or Porsche 997S; 997S; moncler outlet 997S; it'll cost you between $169 and $419, depending on
fancy you like your ride. See Discovery Cove, Skip Sea Sea replica designer handbags Sea World: See Discovery Cove, Skip Sea World: Discovery Cove
a unique all-inclusive day resort where you can swim with with cheap north face with dolphins, snorkel with tropical fish, hand-feed exotic birds, ride
currents of a tropical river (complete with underwater cave) or or moncler jackets men or lounge on the beach. Breakfast and lunch are