Police Search and Seizure of marijuana – Legal Advice. It’s long, but PLEASE READ!?
This all takes place in the green state of Oregon…
Recently I was the victim of a shocking home invasion by the police, under horrible circumstances that were of ill nature.
I’ll be honest. Life is tough at the moment, especially with the economy, and in the small town I live in—where jobs are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find.
So an acquaintance came to me and offered me a bit of a break. I was offered to live in their one bedroom apartment for half the price they were paying. Apparently they had a kid, and wanted to stay at their “better half’s”, where there was more space. Also, they were on a contract, so they couldn’t just break it and lose their security deposit.
That’s where I came in. For half the price of rent, I got to live in the apartment, while they saved money instead of paying for an empty apartment they weren’t even using.
Moving on.
I medicate. With cannabis. No, I’m not legal. Why? Because I don’t have insurance. Why? Because I’m broke. Why? Because I can’t find a job in this tiny town. Do you see the vicious circle?
And for all you skeptics, I don’t care what you say. Marijuana is a proven medicine and I didn’t realize how much it truly helped my back pain until after this incident.
Anyway, so one day, two men come to the door in jeans and sweaters.
They ask for my acquaintances, but I tell them I’m house-sitting. They leave.
Come back.
Man #1 says: “I’m not going to lie, I’m a cop. [Name of acquaintance here] was involved in a delivery. We know there’s marijuana here. Is she here?”
I go on to explain I just house-sit. Basically, it ends with me going outside, them threatening us with jail, and then them getting a $400 dollar collection of glass, a scale, and baggies.
I told him that I HATED getting ripped off, that’s why I bought a scale. Fresh baggies were there so I didn’t have to re-lick old ones with random people’s spit already all over it. I mean, isn’t it like a HUGE offense to spit on a cop? I don’t want someone else’s spit in my mouth.
Anyway, they ended up seizing all my stuff, wrote out a evidence receipt, and left with the final advice: “Don’t sell pot anymore.”
“But…!” was all I got out before they were gone.
Now, my main question is this:
They didn’t charge me with anything. And I know they’re still looking for my acquaintances, but can they come back and charge me with anything after they already took all my shit? I only had about 3 or 4 grams of actual cannabis, and the rest was pipes and waterpipes.
Can they come back and charge me?!
Oh, yeah. They found two Ativan that weren’t prescribed to me and threatened me with jail with that unless I gave up my shit.
So…I ask again…
Can they charge me later?
And trust me, I’m moving the fuck out ASAP.
Thank you for any legal advice.
They can file charges right up until the statute of limitations expire.
Yes they can and maybe you are living in a fantasy because you are addicted to cannabis.
I like your question, and I respect your honesty. Im not sure how good of an answer I can give you, but I have to comment. I want to point out some things, and dont take offense to them, i am not judging you. First of all, I am sure that it does help your back pain, it is no different than alcohol, numbs the pain. Truth is though, it is illlegal at this time. I truly understand the problems you face, it is tough today. Everyone deserves health care, and to be free of pain, and that is something that I hope we will be able to fix soon. we need to take care of our own people. But, like i mentioned earlier, cannabis is illegal, and you knew that. I would accept the fact that you did wrong, even though you may see it that it was justified, and take responsibility. You were lucky they did not charge you, and if they do, just be honest about it. Honesty is the best policy, allways. No matter if the laws are messed up, and the gov dont seem to care, be honest with yourself also. Now, I was curious, it seems to me that you had to explain yourself about the scale and bags. I dont want to say that you are not honest, but think of what that looks like, you know what those items are used for, and why should they believe you above any drug dealer. It is illegal. The pipe, well hey, how else do you smoke. But, having a water pipe, that kinda gives the idea that it is more pleasure than just for pain. Think long and hard about it, count yourself lucky that is all that happened. Get another pipe if you continue, think about your habits, make changes if you need. Is it worth it if it is illegal, if so, that is your right, i do not disagree, but you must be accountable for your actions also. It seems strange that they would confiscate the stuff without a warrent, but hey, im not a lawyer, so I dont have the answer. People can look at this and say you are a pothead, trying to find an excuse for getting into trouble, and some may look at it and believe you, but what honestly do you think….they can still charge you, maybe you should call and talk to someone there about it. It never hurts be be up front about things. If you are honest about it, it will work out. Getting our of the house too, that may help, but if you still are using the drug, does it really matter where you are?
Good luck hope you dont get into any more trouble. Hope things will get better for you.
Oregon had decriminalized marijuana, possession of under an ounce will at most get you a 1,000 fine. There is no penalty for the possession of the paraphernalia unless you’re caught selling it.
If you don’t intend on dealing weed then you’ve got nothing to worry about. If you’re caught with even a small amount weed in your possession again and its packaged in individual baggies you could be looking at a distribution charge and the evidence they seized from your apartment will be used against you. You’ve got to be careful about that from now on because they don’t need to bust you with over an ounce to file distribution charges.
In your place I’d invest in getting a cannabis card so you can legally use the stuff. Oregon is one of the states that allows it. As long as you’re careful about not keeping weed packaged in individual baggies you should be cool.
In other words don’t get caught walking around with weed packaged in individual bags. Buy one at a time or make sure to stuff your entire stash into just one.
I agree with the above… they can still charge you up to the statute of limitations runs out. They may not want you but may come back to try to get you to flip on someone bigger, if you know what I mean.
The wife of an acquaintance of mine called at night about a year ago. Said her neighbor had called to tell her there were all kinds of officers at her house… said she saw “DEA” on a few jackets. Hubby was out of town and she had two small kids with her. She was afraid to go home and didn’t. Upshot was sheriffs took 150 plants and left a not “if you have any questions.. please call…” It was a year ago and neither of the home’s occupants have yet been charged. My thinking is they don’t take 150 plants into evidence for nothing and they will eventually come after them. Your situation… paraphernalia and a small amount of weed, they may just keep watching you for a while.
My question to you is why did you let them in your home??? Did they have a warrant?
A little bit of history. Centuries ago with sailing ships it was found almost impossible to prove who owned a ship. So when you caught a ship on the high seas with an illegal cargo, knowing it was almost impossible to find the true owner and charge him with smuggling, you had another way to deal with it. You simply seized the ship. The owner, whoever and where ever he was, was out the ship, an automatic fine and money out of his pocket without having to track him down.
Come forward, now we have a drug problem. Instead of trying to track down who owns the drugs and bring charges against them, they simply seize the drugs. If they make a million dollar drug seizure the owner is out the million dollars, regardless of who he is or where he is, he is out the million dollars. They also extended that to anything used for the drug trade. Cars, land for growing the pot (which is why they now grow much of it on federal land, you can not seize what you already own.), boats, etc. It does not matter if they charge someone for it or not, by seizing the drugs and the assets for growing and distributing the drugs they “fine” the person responsible.
They took YOUR drugs and your pipes and your water pipes. You got “fined” for your actions in the drug trade. They do not have to charge you with anything. If all that stuff cost you $400 then you got an automatic fine of $400. If they wanted to carry it to extremes, they could actually seize the apartment if they suspected the owner knew what was going on.
SO……you are out your stuff, and if you try to do it again they got the evidence already in hand that you did it before. You are screwed. Yes, they can come back and charge you but they probably are just giving you a warning by grabbing your stuff. Better knock it off as they got your number.
Dam bro, sorry to hear about your situation ='(
Makes me almost tear up every time I hear a sad story as such…
I’m no law expert, but I think common sense would say that if they were to charge you, wouldn’t they have done it right ON THE SPOT? They know that you could just flee and run away and move somewhere else? Why would they leave that chance and wait to charge you? I don’t know… Just my opinion.
But whatever happens, Good luck bro. Wish you best. Legalization is coming soon brethren!
For now, I just say move south (To Cali.) ASAP!
I believe you’ll less harassed in California, as it is notoriously more tolerated there.
One Love Solider!
you failed when you stepped outside…. learn your freaking rights and the laws the officers of the law must live by….
yeah they can do pretty much anything they want