Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Friday July 28 2017, @07:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-say-tomato-I-say-marijuana dept.

AlterNet reports

On April 20, 2012, seven heavily armed Johnson County sheriff's officers conducted an early morning raid on the house of Adlynn and Robert Harte based on vegetative samples found in the couple's trash. It turns out those samples were tea leaves, and officers found a hydroponic tomato garden instead of marijuana.

The Hartes sued the county for $7 million on unlawful search-and-seizure claims, which a federal judge tossed after finding the officers were entitled to qualified immunity.

On [July 25, 2017], however, a three-judge 10th Circuit panel disagreed--and Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero offered a sarcastic summary in the ruling of the mistakes made by the officers.

"Law-abiding tea drinkers and gardeners beware: One visit to a garden store and some loose tea leaves in your trash may subject you to an early morning, SWAT-style raid, complete with battering ram, bulletproof vests, and assault rifles", Lucero wrote. "Perhaps the officers will intentionally conduct the terrifying raid while your children are home, and keep the entire family under armed guard for 2½ hours while concerned residents of your quiet, family-oriented neighborhood wonder what nefarious crime you have committed. This is neither hyperbole nor metaphor--precisely what happened to the Harte family in the case before us on appeal."

[...] The Hartes claim that officers lied about the field test results showing the tea leaves tested positive for THC, the principal ingredient in marijuana. Police failed to photograph the results and did not send the samples to a lab for confirmation, given the pressure to obtain warrants for the April 20 crackdown--facts not lost on [concurring Judge Nancy] Moritz.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 28 2017, @10:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 28 2017, @10:51PM (#546022)

    True.
    ...and to get a -high- concentration of THC in what you ingest, you must subject THCA (another cannabinoid contained in the flower) to a temperature of at least 220°F.
    This is called decarboxylating.
    Burning the bud or vaping it is one way to get the change to occur; baking it or cooking it in butter are others.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]