Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

[heironymouspasparagus]

Hey, Okrahoma... Let's go out and get us sum of dem guud payin' jobs and get us sum big companies to move here...!!


THIS is the special kind of stupid that we do to ourselves on a national basis.  Repeatedly.

[patric]

These guys over-stepped and from the initial reports, it appears they knew this from the git-go but they lacked the courage or integrity to say they were wrong.

"At the end of the day, everybody was just kind of scared to be the ones that let it go if something came back and they found out they weren't supposed to let us go."
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/hemp-or-marijuana-government-shutdown-delays-drug-test-in-marijuana-trafficking-case/73-7ab52e69-6fb6-4078-aed4-84a4968428c9



They also knew they had jumped the gun, so to save face they just went ahead and arrested everyone.  After all, the tactic worked so well at Twin Peaks in Waco...

Yeah, we wouldnt want to be responsible if that marijuana kills somebody later on.



Compare to:

Marijuana grow house burglarized in west Tulsa; teen suspects questioned and released

Investigators found "what appeared to be" fabricated paperwork for the cultivation and distribution of the plant, Edwards said. Officers were unable to determine that authenticity of the paperwork early Tuesday morning, nor were they able to locate a business or property owner.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/marijuana-grow-house-burglarized-in-west-tulsa-teen-suspects-questioned/article_46e08d08-ef9f-5d5a-b5ef-cbd3177e0d34.html

police also had a hard time verifying the marijuana was legal and weren't able to reach the owners of the shop until several hours later, meaning they had to let the teenagers walk free.
http://www.newson6.com/story/39834814/tulsa-police-frustrated-by-poorly-protected-marijuana-growing-facility


It was a legal grow house.

[heironymouspasparagus]

"At the end of the day, everybody was just kind of scared to be the ones that let it go if something came back and they found out they weren't supposed to let us go."

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/hemp-or-marijuana-government-shutdown-delays-drug-test-in-marijuana-trafficking-case/73-7ab52e69-6fb6-4078-aed4-84a4968428c9

That's so lame of them.  Not like they couldn't reach out and touch someone later...

[patric]

Numbers from the Oklahoma Tax Commission show medical marijuana sales reached nearly $1 million in December, generating about $70,000 for state coffers from a special new tax on those sales.

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, as of Jan. 14, has generated more than $10 million in licensing fees after approving applications from 30,835 patients, 191 caregivers, 848 dispensaries, 1,385 growers and 361 processors.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/marijuana/oklahoma-s-medical-marijuana-sales-reached-nearly-million-in-december/article_ce5733bf-3549-5a91-9abd-ad9de10e7483.html

[patric]

The unresolved saga of the massive crop shipment seized by law enforcement in Pawhuska nearly two weeks ago is exposing how unprepared Oklahoma — and likely other states — is for legal industrial hemp.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/hemp-or-marijuana-pawhuska-case-reveals-oklahoma-isn-t-ready/article_e04888e8-f666-5b91-88e9-13b3bc7871fa.html

More likely, exposing how unwilling Oklahoma law enforcement is to accept reform in the "war on drugs."



The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says no agencies in the state have field tests to differentiate hemp from marijuana. OHP also has no policy in place regarding the transport of hemp, though the agency is researching the issue.

"Somebody was going to end up being a martyr for this (industry). We were prepared to do it, and now, it's happened," Andrew Ross said last week from the lobby of the Osage County jail. "We're ready to hopefully use this experience to get states on board."

Ross, 29, and business partner David Dirksen, 31, spent six days locked in jail. Each posted a $40,000 bond Jan. 15, the same day prosecutors charged them with aggravated trafficking of 20,500 pounds of marijuana.

Also charged were the tractor-trailer rig's two drivers — Tadesse Deneke, 51, and Farah Warsame, 33. All four live in different states.

Unable to secure bail, Deneke and Warsame remained jailed as of Monday afternoon. They were subcontracted by Patriot Shield Security, the business formed by Ross and two other veterans.

Colorado officials confirmed the shipment's purchasers are in "good standing" with the state. Kentucky officials confirmed the hemp farm that sold the cannabis is licensed for growing and handling the plant.

Meanwhile, the nine tons of plant material a purchaser says is worth in excess of $500,000 may degrade to the point of uselessness as Oklahoma investigators wrangle with whether it was a legal shipment.

Tulsa attorney Matt Lyons, representing Ross and Dirksen, bailed out the pair Tuesday after their video appearances for arraignment in Osage County District Court.

Lyons said his clients did their due diligence beforehand and have complete documentation from the buying and selling parties that the crop is hemp. Patriot Shield simply signed on to provide security during transport of the shipment and performed due diligence ensuring affairs were in order, he said.

Pawhuska police have submitted samples of the seized shipment to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lab in Virginia.

The legal difference between the controlled substance marijuana and industrial hemp is a chemical distinction.
Hemp is federally forbidden to exceed a THC content of three-tenths of a percent. Marijuana averages between 15 percent and 20 percent THC content.

Laws regarding cannabis grew more hazy when hemp became legal after Trump signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 farm bill.

That removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and provided protections for the interstate commerce of hemp. The law declares no state or Indian tribe "shall prohibit transportation or shipment of hemp" that was produced in accordance with the law.

In plotting a route from Kentucky to northern Colorado, Ross said state troopers in Kansas and Nebraska a year earlier told him over the phone they would be arrested on the spot if they tried to traverse their respective states.

Ross decided on a northern route through Oklahoma, figuring transport would be fine given that the state Legislature recently approved an industrial hemp agricultural pilot program.

"(Oklahoma's) our vetted route. It's where we've gone before, and it's where we're hoping to go in the future," Ross said. "The reason we ended up in Pawhuska is because we kind of go through the Panhandle and then skirt up into the southern part of Colorado."

Pawhuska Police Chief Rex Wickle said the papers were not in order the night of the traffic stop. Wickle also called it "fishy" that some of the documents were altered by hand.
"The paperwork provided to the Pawhuska Police Department only was a bill of lading, a grower's license and the chemical test that didn't tie into any of the stuff on the truck or the name of the company who owns it," Wickle said.

Ross said that statement is untrue.

He said his company's documentation was "very thorough." Over several hours, he and an attorney gathered every piece of documentation they could provide, such as licenses and certifications from Colorado and Kentucky.

"There was a lot of information passed to Pawhuska," Ross said.

Sarah Stewart, OHP spokeswoman, said Pawhuska police made the arrest, so OHP is effectively removed from the investigation. She said OHP has no policy on the transport of industrial hemp through the state.

"If we test it, it will test positive for marijuana because hemp has trace amounts of THC, and our tests are only to detect the presence of any THC," Stewart said. "It's not quantitative. There is no agency in our state right now that does quantitative testing for THC. It has to be sent off."

One of the intended recipients of the cannabis is Panacea Life Sciences.

James Baumgartner, the business' president, said Panacea wouldn't have ordered the cannabis if it believed the crop could be anything other than hemp. He noted that criminal or civil cases would be expensive for his business, absorb time from state and local officials and be costly to Oklahoma taxpayers.

"If this has to go to court and civil litigation, in my opinion, everybody loses," Baumgartner said.

Patriot Shield is undeterred by the situation.

Since his release, Ross said his company has been on the phone with various state government agencies trying to understand how best to conduct his industrial hemp security business.

Right now, he said, it's mostly officials passing the buck with no answers.

"Someone is going to have to take a stand at some point," Ross said.

[patric]

A Republican from Tuttle has filed a piece of legislation that seeks to change Oklahoma's medical marijuana law as other lawmakers involved in regulating medical marijuana expect to present their own measures when the session starts next month.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, a businessman and rancher elected in 2016, was not involved any of the work of the bipartisan medical marijuana legislative working group tasked with recommending legislation regarding the state's law.

• SQ 788 ensures patients who have not yet obtained their state license but are found to be in possession of less than 1.5 ounces of marijuana would face only a misdemeanor charge and $400 fine. Paxton's measure would instead institute those penalties for a licensed patient who is not in possession of their state-issued card at the time of the law enforcement action. Those who have no patient license would be subject to the same criminal law as before SQ788.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/medical-marijuana-bill-would-change-the-law-as-written-in/article_488d9b5a-b7c8-5cb3-8a40-7d08b24cbf4b.html

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2019-20%20INT/SB/SB1030%20INT.PDF


No word yet on revoking the overly-broad DUI law that automatically criminalizes sober drivers with traces of non-intoxicating metabolites in their blood.

[heironymouspasparagus]

A Republican from Tuttle has filed a piece of legislation that seeks to change Oklahoma's medical marijuana law as other lawmakers involved in regulating medical marijuana expect to present their own measures when the session starts next month.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, a businessman and rancher elected in 2016, was not involved any of the work of the bipartisan medical marijuana legislative working group tasked with recommending legislation regarding the state's law.

• SQ 788 ensures patients who have not yet obtained their state license but are found to be in possession of less than 1.5 ounces of marijuana would face only a misdemeanor charge and $400 fine. Paxton's measure would instead institute those penalties for a licensed patient who is not in possession of their state-issued card at the time of the law enforcement action. Those who have no patient license would be subject to the same criminal law as before SQ788.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/medical-marijuana-bill-would-change-the-law-as-written-in/article_488d9b5a-b7c8-5cb3-8a40-7d08b24cbf4b.html

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2019-20%20INT/SB/SB1030%20INT.PDF


No word yet on revoking the overly-broad DUI law that automatically criminalizes sober drivers with traces of non-intoxicating metabolites in their blood.

Just what we can always expect from Okrahoma...

[patric]

The first wrinkle in the era of legal hemp comes into focus: Police officers do not appear capable of distinguishing hemp from marijuana.
A local TV news station in Nashville reported in October that police in Tennessee have already mistakenly cracked down on hemp products, which were legal under state law even before the 2018 Farm Bill passed, because neither officers nor their drug dogs can differentiate between the two plants.
https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/17/oklahoma-cops-jailed-four-men-for-transp/print

Are "drug dogs," the cash cows of so many small towns, obsolete?  

So now the rural cops are living down to an unflattering stereotype. But the four men are still facing charges.
http://www.soonerpolitics.org/nigel-omally/pawhuska-cops-got-punked-industrial-hemp-is-legal

https://www.gofundme.com/veterans-wrongfully-arrested-in-pawhuska-oklahoma

[patric]

Samples didn't test as marijuana, so entire 9-ton hemp shipment will be tested on DA orders
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/samples-didn-t-test-as-marijuana-so-entire--ton/article_49943da5-764d-5d30-9836-00328f9fa660.html

The massive truckload of industrial hemp or illegal marijuana seized by authorities in Pawhuska may make it to Colorado after all — but not to its original destination with the purchasers.

Defense Attorney Matt Lyons on Thursday said federal testing has been completed on 11 samples, with only two found to be marginally over the legal THC limit and outside of the test's margins of error.

So the Osage County District Attorney's Office will send the truck to Colorado for THC testing of the entire 9 tons of cannabis in relation to hemp's three-tenths of 1 percent legal limit, he said. The lowest level of THC in medicinal marijuana is 15 percent, Lyons said, which is nowhere near the one-half of 1 percent of THC found in the most potent test sample.

Lyons said the shipment doesn't contain any black market marijuana, which he said is what prosecutors told him was their initial cause for concern.

"They are trying to call this marijuana, when it's clear to the rest of the sane world that it's not," he said.

Additionally, federal and state laws provide support for handling the situation outside of criminal court. But the unresolved situation has exposed how unprepared Oklahoma — and probably other states — is for legal industrial hemp.

Federal law bars criminal enforcement of hemp growers found to be in violation, and the state only imposes civil fines or penalties, according to a Tulsa World review of relevant laws. Transport personnel don't appear to be addressed as far as violations in either set of laws.

"Why is this (still) being criminally prosecuted?" Lyons said. "Is this because you made the mistake of prosecuting them before the tests were done?"

First Assistant District Attorney Michelle Bodine-Keely on Thursday declined to comment. She had said she thought the office might issue a news release Thursday, but it didn't materialize.

Andrew Ross, 29, and business partner David Dirksen, 31, spent almost a week in jail after law enforcement seized the cargo Jan. 9 on Main Street in Pawhuska during a stop for a traffic violation.

Ross and Dirksen, who were providing security for the shipment, each posted a $40,000 bond on Jan. 15. That same day prosecutors had charged them with aggravated trafficking of marijuana — which carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

Also charged with drug trafficking were the tractor-trailer rig's two drivers — Tadesse Deneke, 51, and Farah Warsame, 33. Deneke and Warsame have been unable to secure bonds and remain jailed.

The pair were subcontracted by Patriot Shield Security, the business formed by Ross, Dirksen and two other veterans. All four defendants live in different states.

Trevor Reynolds, a Tulsa attorney for the shipment's two drivers, questioned whether federal authorities will properly test the nearly 18,000-pound shipment.

Reynolds said THC contents in cannabis aren't uniform, in contrast to a block of methamphetamine. He said defense attorneys have concern that authorities may have chosen plant samples that were more apt to have higher THC concentrations than the average of the whole shipment.

"I think Osage County has painted themselves into a corner a little bit," Reynolds said. "I am fairly certain that unless the (THC content) tests at 1.0 percent or higher, the U.S. government is not going to be interested in it."

Federal and Oklahoma hemp laws appear to support that supposition.




Meanwhile, another "failure-to-signal-leads-to-biggest-pot-bust-ever"?

Rogers County deputies confiscated 29 glass jars containing what they allege is THC oil, a concentrate made from marijuana, and arrested a California man on possession complaints.

Deputies arrested Michael John Hutchison, 56, after a traffic stop late Wednesday on allegations that he possessed the product with the intent to distribute the THC oil, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Deputies state in the affidavit that they saw a black GMC Yukon merge from the Will Rogers Turnpike to Interstate 44 in Rogers County. Hutchison, the alleged driver, made multiple lane changes and exited the interstate without the use of a turn signal.

During the subsequent traffic stop, a K9 officer reportedly alerted to the "odor of narcotics" in Hutchison's vehicle.

Deputies searched the vehicle and found two cardboard boxes containing 29 glass jars. The jars contained "a thick brownish substance, that later field tested positive for THC," according to the affidavit.

"I have seen this on numerous occasions in the past, and recognize it to be a highly concentrated THC oil, or compound, that is very expensive and in great demand," the (unnamed Rogers County) arresting deputy states in the affidavit.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/jars-of-highly-concentrated-thc-oil-found-during-traffic-stop/article_351ad822-1b5d-5c6c-b71d-6d6c485f6656.html

Legal, non-intoxicating CBD oil will also test positive for traces of THC.

[patric]

Much like the Waco Twin Peaks debacle, authorities are prepared to ruin the lives of the "over-arrested" than admit mistakes.



The two incarcerated truck drivers of the enormous hemp shipment seized in Pawhuska are legal immigrants from Africa who don't completely understand why they have been locked up for simply doing their jobs, according to the attorney representing them pro bono.

Tadesse Deneke, 51, is described as a U.S. citizen who is in danger of losing his home in Alabama because he can't make mortgage payments. Farah Warsame, 33, is a green card holder in Ohio studying at a small college and seeking citizenship.

Defense attorney Bransford Shoemake said that with English as their second language, it's difficult for him to explain fully what is happening to them. The pair have been jailed for nearly a month after law enforcement took custody of a nine-ton load of industrial hemp that authorities believe to be marijuana.

Of 11 samples tested by the Drug Enforcement Administration, three tested marginally above the three-tenths of 1 percent THC limit for legal hemp, according to the results provided to the Tulsa World by another defense attorney on the case. The margins of error for the other eight samples touch or encompass hemp's legal limit.

"It's freaking hemp, man," Shoemake said Friday. "It's not like they had a load of heroin or were loaded up with stolen car parts. And they're going to ruin these guys' lives over that?"

The Osage County District Attorney's Office didn't provide comment.

Shoemake said District Attorney Mike Fisher is a "fine man" and as honest a prosecutor as there is in the profession. But Shoemake said he doesn't understand or even know why the case is being handled in this fashion.

Deneke and Warsame, along with hemp security providers Andrew Ross and David Dirksen, are charged with marijuana trafficking. A conviction carries with it a sentence of 15 years to life.

Ross and Dirksen are free after each posted $20,000 bonds Jan. 15.

For Deneke and Warsame, their attorney has been unable to find an agency willing to post either of their $40,000 bonds. He said anyone willing to do so may call his Pawhuska office at 918-287-1812.

"The security drivers made bond, and these guys are just sitting in jail," Shoemake said, noting that the two who were able to gain release are white business owners. "I think it's a miscarriage of justice."

Shoemake has argued with prosecutors that they don't need either driver in custody to prove whatever case it is they seek. He said both should be released on their own recognizance so they can be with their families and go back to work.

Shoemake explained that Deneke and Warsame were told the cargo was legal industrial hemp. Their boss assigned them to the shipment, and they were being compensated by the mile to drive the tractor-trailer from point A to point B.

"They had no idea there was anything potentially, remotely considered to be an illegal load," Shoemake said.

Federal and state laws provide support for handling the situation outside of criminal court. But the unresolved situation has exposed how unprepared Oklahoma — and probably other states — is for legal industrial hemp.

Federal law bars criminal enforcement of hemp growers found to be in violation, and the state only imposes civil fines or penalties, according to a Tulsa World review of relevant laws. Transport personnel don't appear to be addressed as far as violations in either set of laws.

Deneke, now a U.S. citizen, came to America from Ethiopia with his daughter. She is now 28, and Deneke is the sole breadwinner.

Shoemake said Deneke also sends regular payments to his wife in Ethiopia, with the hope of her immigrating to the U.S. at some point. His incarceration has put his mortgage in flux on his home in Mobile, Alabama.

"(His daughter) has called me several times, crying in broken English, 'Are you going to be able to help my daddy?'?" Shoemake said.

Warsame, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, is from Somalia. Shoemake said he speaks "relatively good English" and is learning the truck-driving ropes under Deneke as he studies in college.

Shoemake said Warsame's family has gathered the $4,000 needed to put down 10 percent of his bond if an agent is willing.

"They just say, 'Why is this happening?'?" Shoemake said. "And I don't really have a good answer."

Shoemake said he visits the Osage County jail to see Deneke and Warsame on a regular basis.

Both are religious and still praying, he said. Deneke spends time reading the Bible. Warsame the Quran. They came to the U.S. in search of better lives.

"You're not going to be unfairly taken advantage of in America," Shoemake said of their belief on resettling in America. "And I think they're starting to lose faith. And I don't blame them."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/with-english-as-second-language-hefty-hemp-shipment-s-truck/article_0b5b840a-4576-537e-8486-c27cf309f97a.html

[dbacksfan 2.0]

I ordered some of these for the OSBI Crime Lab, and I had them take out the scales so they wouldn't confiscate it thinking it was for making meth.

[patric]

I ordered some of these for the OSBI Crime Lab, and I had them take out the scales so they wouldn't confiscate it thinking it was for making meth.

The Trump administration's crackdown on marijuana legalization might end under Bill Barr
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/28/18200982/marijuana-legalization-trump-jeff-sessions-william-barr



The first wrinkle in the era of legal hemp comes into focus: Police officers do not appear capable of distinguishing hemp from marijuana.
https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/17/oklahoma-cops-jailed-four-men-for-transp

[patric]

Osage County prosecutors doubled down Wednesday on their contentions that the massive shipment of plant material seized in Pawhuska nearly a month ago is marijuana, not hemp.

District Attorney Mike Fisher in a news release cited the results of the same federal testing that defense attorneys argue prove the shipment is hemp — perhaps noncompliant hemp — and is not marijuana. Two truck drivers and two security officers are charged with trafficking marijuana, which carries a prison sentence of 15 years to life.

Fisher didn't respond to Tulsa World requests for clarification on what he is relying upon in distinguishing marijuana from noncompliant hemp or if he considers them to be one and the same.

The applicable state statute used by the District Attorney's Office to charge the four men defines marijuana as a "mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marihuana (sic) ... "

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/prosecutors-double-down-on-contention-that-federal-tests-show-seized/article_3c4cae58-4336-541f-83d4-3bdaa2f0598d.htm


Get to work, legislature. SQ788 lacked a Severability Clause that would have overruled older, conflicting laws that police have been citing as the source of their confusion (such as the metabolites are DUI law) but they arent listed here:

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/marijuana/several-bills-would-change-oklahoma-s-medical-marijuana-law-what/collection_f2465022-cc7c-52e5-af9d-0704b2cccc5f.html

[patric]

A Tulsa business owner said he's willing to put up the bail money to get two truck drivers out of the Osage County jail.

Chris Barnett owns a local carpet cleaning business and a marijuana grow operation; he said he's outraged the men are still behind bars.
"I could not believe that these guys were sitting in jail 30 days later," he said. "And it outraged me."
"They've (prosecutors) made a mistake," Barnett said. "Go ahead, suck it up, admit to it and do the right thing."

Barnett is now offering to pay up to get who he feels are two innocent men out of jail.
"I'm hoping that by Friday they're walking out of that jailhouse, and I hope we have them on the way home soon," he said.

But Barnett is asking even more from the Osage County District Attorney.

"I think the District Attorney needs to have them released today, returns their IDs," Barnett said. "Show everyone Oklahoma is better than what's been portrayed."

http://www.newson6.com/story/39928514/tulsa-business-owner-says-pawhuska-police-made-mistake-in-arresting-hemp-transporters

[heironymouspasparagus]

Shoemake said District Attorney Mike Fisher is a "fine man" and as honest a prosecutor as there is in the profession. But Shoemake said he doesn't understand or even know why the case is being handled in this fashion.

Maybe not as fine as Shoemake says.  This is obvious, blatant violation of Federal law.