ELLSWORTH, Maine — A medical marijuana grower in northern Ellsworth was happy to have his stolen plants returned Saturday, despite the fact he’ll only be able to salvage about 15 percent of the crop.
Thomas Davis, a state-licensed marijuana caregiver, was burglarized Wednesday night, when police say Aaron Pert, 32, of Trenton, broke into Davis’ greenhouses and stole 17 marijuana plants worth an estimated $12,800.
Pert allegedly cut two large openings in Davis’ greenhouse, and apparently used clippers to remove mature, flowering branches from the large plants. He also allegedly cut a smaller hole in the side of the greenhouse that faces Davis’ home, which the caregiver said was likely a “lookout” peephole.
Pert had been charged early Thursday morning with possession of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle and possession of marijuana. After Davis reported the burglary, police questioned Pert, who admitted to stealing the plants, according to Lt. Harold Page.
Page said Pert told police where he stashed the pilfered pot. Police found the marijuana in the woods in northern Ellsworth and held onto it for two days. Police didn’t return the plants right away because the department was worried it may violate federal law in returning the medical marijuana, which is legal under Maine law but illegal at the federal level.
Ellsworth Police Chief John DeLeo made the decision Saturday to return the plants to Davis. On Monday, DeLeo said returning the marijuana to Davis was legal, as far as he was concerned.
Davis is a state-licensed caregiver for three patients and also uses marijuana himself to treat chronic pain caused by fibromyalgia. He said that marijuana is extremely susceptible to mold, and that he knew the longer it was outside his greenhouse, in police custody, the more likely it would be ruined.
Because the clock was running, he said he frantically called all the authorities he could think of in an effort to get the plant back: State representatives, the governor’s office, the police and the district attorney. But he didn’t get any leads until Saturday when DeLeo made the call to return the plants.
“I knew it would be useless by the time it got back to me,” he said. “The second it left the greenhouse, it was a matter of time.”
After pulling out the moldy flowers, Davis said about 15 percent of his crop will be medicine-grade. That means he’s only got about a month’s worth of medicine for himself and his clients. He said he’s not sure what will happen after that month, though some other caregivers have offered to give Davis a few plants so he can keep providing medicine to his clients. If that pans out, it will likely save Davis’ livelihood.
“My patients may end up turning to a dispensary or another caregiver,” he said. “I’m not sure yet, because I’ve only gotten a hold of one of them.”
Moreover, Davis said that losing six months worth of medicine will prevent him from focusing on developing seeds and clone plants, which he gives to other caregivers. He tries to develop strains of marijuana best suited for medicinal use, and said the burglary will set his work back by months.
If there’s a silver lining to the burglary, Davis said it’s in the cooperation between himself as a caregiver and the local police. He said thieves may target medical marijuana growers because they are used to stealing pot from illegal operations, the owners of which would never report the crime.
He also said he hopes Ellsworth’s decision to return the plants will set a precedent for future local police departments to view medical marijuana the same way they’d view any other stolen medicine they recovered.
“It’s not the Wild West out here,” he said. “I feel like most of what I’m salvaging is a chance to get this out to the public, to let people know they can’t target medical marijuana patients and growers. The police will protect us.”
In addition to the firearm and possession charges, Pert faces charges of burglary and theft. He was released from jail Friday morning on $500 unsecured bail.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
It’s kinda iffy for local law enforcement to get this intimate with the returning of medical marijuana. Medical marijuana is still a violation of federal law. This could be used against the police as aiding and abetting a federal criminal, so to speak.
I will defend myself on this comment right now and say that I do not side with the feds on this, and those big brother, big azzes down in Washington need to back off this stuff. All they’re really interested in is the missed tax revenue, not the war on drugs.
“All they’re really interested in is the missed tax revenue, not the war on drugs.”
A tax by any other name (property forfeitures, fines) would smell as sweet…
My apologies in advance Jack,
but the real missing information here is that this so called “War on Drugs” initiated by the Reagan administration at the behest of Mrs. Reagan is an unmitigated failure!
This War on Drugs has become a farce and a waste of tax dollars. It has become a jobs program for law enforcement purposes, a revenue enhancement tool by seizure of assets and an abuse of “our/my” constitutional right to treat my illness in a manner I choose, not some bureaucrat’s behind a desk that has never suffered the pain, the cost, or had a compassionate thought in their entire lives.
Let us all remember it was the CIA in a well documented scheme, that first brought crack cocaine into our cities.
It was the ATF that allowed guns to be sold recklessly to criminal elements in Mexico.
It was and is the policy of this government to suppress descent of their policies at any cost and our Constitutional rights be damned.
With another trillion dollar deficit this year in Washington, IMO it is past time to clean up Washington and let the cleaning trickle down from there as they’re so fond of doing anyway.
The CIA also had a hand in LSD if I’m not mistaken.
mrjackdowney you should take a look at City of Garden Grove v Felix Kha, 157 Cal. App. 4th 355; 68 Cal. Rptr. 3d 656 (2007). The case is directly on point and reconstructs the bogus argument that the police could face sanctions for complying with the law. The decision is so cut and dried that neither the California Supreme Court nor the SCOTUS was even interested in hearing the City of Garden Grove’s arguments that Federal law prevented the City’s agents from returning the stolen property and it was the Garden Grove police who stole Mr. Kha’s medicine.
http://iowamedicalmarijuana.org/documents/grove.aspx
What federal law? A federal law that violates the federal constitution is invalid. From the moment of inception, not the moment of successful constitutional challenge, at least according to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Congress was absolutely unable to prohibit alcohol nationwide without a constitutional amendment. Absent such an amendment, the ninth and tenth amendments give the power to prohibit or refuse to prohibit exclusively to the people and the states. That alcohol prohibition amendment was repealed, and the ninth and tenth amendments have not been repealed or modified since then to allow nationwide prohibition without another amendment.
Since the feds need a constitutional amendment that they don’t have in order to override state law in matters of prohibition, then there is no federal law prohibiting marijuana. It was invalid from the moment of inception.
It’s good he got his plants back! Happy ending!
Now this is progress.
How can it be a happy ending when the majority of his crop is ruined by their ignorance.
I see no happy ending here…unless it is in his fellow care givers stepping forward to lend a much needed hand back up. To them I applaud their humanistic efforts.
He is lucky they didn’t keep the evidence until the thief had his trial! This whole M.M. thing is new to them, they had to make sure they (P.D.) followed the law. Give them a little credit for returning it. There is no evidence that it is the cops fault it was ruined, it could have been because of where the thief had it stashed.
Hopefully he has insurance.
Times have changed and the police need to adapt. It seems like they’re trying — it’s a beginning!
Wow, the Chief chose to violate Federal law and furnish marijuana. I hope he consulted with the town attorney or the DEA before he took that leap.
I applaud the chief for ignoring a bogus federal law. Any law, if unjust, is not a law at all. The State has made it a law that marijuana be legal, and that is one police department that should get HiGh marks!
So the Chief of Police can pick and choose what laws he wants to enforce, regardless of the oath he took?
I wonder how he feels about Zumba instructors?
Or maybe, unlike you, he doesn’t take his marching-order from the federal government and the PD chief is capable of independent thought. Wouldn’t THAT be cool??
The federal government must obey federal law. The highest federal law is the constitution. Alcohol prohibition required an amendment, but there is no such amendment for marijuana prohibition. Therefore the feds are not following federal law, and any orders they give pursuant to that violation of federal law are unlawful orders. Disobeying an unlawful order is not illegal. Obeying one, on the other hand, is illegal (just ask any concentration camp guard who was tried at Nuremberg…if you can find one).
The chief of police swore to uphold the constitution. Congress was unable to prohibit alcohol without a constitutional amendment. If you’re correct about the chief violating his oath, I’m sure you can point to the constitutional amendment that prohibits marijuana?
Te feds are so out of touch with the people it isn’t even funny. They no longer work for the people. They work for the highest payer and do their bidding at the expense of the majority of people. It sickens me.
to hell with the DEA. The Feds would do best to stay out of the State’s business. Anything they touch turns to a mess. and I”m not even asupporter of medical marijuana.
I’m sure if the DEA could have gotten one of their tanks down here in time, they would have.
Good stuff. Yes, the DEA, CIA, IRS, ATF, etc. Feds are criminal in their intentions. There is not a responsible person out there that doesn’t know this by now. Watch out for these seedy people, they are evil in their intentions. The IRS alone should be banned from the face of this earth. They are thugs to society. Taking our country back should start with the extinction of these sectors. And it will happen in time. The secret is out. From law breaking to violating the constitution, from terrorizing to murder , beware America. Federal is out, State is in.
The Cheif did the right thing.
What federal law? As far as I can tell, there isn’t one that doesn’t violate the constitution. After all, Congress needed a constitutional amendment to override the 9th and 10th amendments for national prohibition of alcohol, and alcohol that is safe to drink and tastes good is entirely a manufactured substance. To ban a natural unprocessed plant would also require an amendment. Where is it?
Since the marijuana in question didn’t cross state lines, the commerce clause of the constitution wouldn’t apply, since the feds only have authority to regulate interstate commerce, not commerce within a state. The argument that they can regulate commerce within a state that affects interstate commerce is a very shaky one, and it fails entirely when discussing products for which there is no legal interstate traffic. Attempting to do so without a federal constitutional amendment giving them that authority violates the tenth amendment. Federal statutes cannot override the constitution.
Now I’ve heard it all.
This story takes the cake !
Yeah? How so?
What, won’t you sleep better at night knowing he has his marijuana back, and our police are willing to commit a federal felony in order to facilitate that happening??
I reccomend to anyone reading this article and comments that believes the Feds are right to still support prohibition of cannabis to please read the book The Emporor wears no Clothes. I cant say I agree with every part of that book but it sure brings to light a lot of BS fed to us by the feds.
Yes and no, in response to your questions.
What federal felony?
The marijuana didn’t leave the state, so it was never involved in interstate commerce. Bye-bye commerce clause. The feds are bound to obey they U.S. constitution, and there are two amendments to it that bear on this: The 9th and 10th.
In the early 20th century, Congress wanted to enact a nationwide ban on drinking alcohol. They couldn’t do it without a constitutional amendment, because without one, the 9th and 10th amendments would have made such a law unconstitutional. If such a law without an amendment is unconstitutional, then one banning cannabis is too.
If a state chooses to legalize cannabis, then the tenth amendment says the state law is the law.
What federal felony?
If it doesn’t cross the state border, it is not the jurisdiction of the federal government. If the owner got the seed and raised the plant in Maine and it is only sold in Maine for use only in Maine, and the patients only use it in Maine, there is no federal issue. It has already been ruled, and stated in the constitution where the federal lines are drawn. Try reading the document.
I do not like seeing people who look high who are legally allowed to raise these plants. How well does it look when people are drunk in photos? Even prescription drugs. I do not like seeing people who looked drugged out. Doctors will also say, that means their medication prescriptions should be altered, changed or lowered to alleviate that.
If people take oxicodone without a prescription it is illegal. I think we need to find ways to better set people’s prescription doses in regards to medical marijuana as things like ib profin and oxicodone are monitored.
Imagine, someone at the “cool” table in a mental hospital lunch room, who is not on medication telling the others, “Did you all just take your meds, because you all look drugged out. You should lay off the drugs, man.”
“If it doesn’t cross the state border, it is not the jurisdiction of the federal government”. Not true.
Should be, though.
Why should it? That would be illegal, under the 9th and 10th amendments. Don’t like it? Then you should campaign for a constitutional amendment to ban marijuana. Because the law is the law.
Meant to say that it should be a state issue.
Can you prove it?
the pict doesnt show a drugged out person.it shows a man looking down saddened by the sight of his one miserable,moldy plant, that refused to die.
I don’t know what picture you or the people who liked your comment are looking at, but I don’t see a moldy plant at all. I see a deficient plant in late flower. He does look a bit in the slums, of course, given his situation.
Yes, he looks sad, but he also looks like he has been using too much. Have you seen before and after pictures of using meth? Try it with this product too.
Your grasp on the Commerce Clause is tenuous and beside the point. If the DEA or IRS, say under a Romney administration, wants to start busting medical marijuana caregivers they will have little problem arresting and charging them under federal law. The federal prohibition should be rescinded.
You obviously and the other person have not rad the supreme case ruling on it in California have you, or the constitution?
And under the U.S. Constitution, the state governor would be on the right side of the law to direct the state police to arrest those DEA agents for kidnapping. The feds can’t cherry-pick the parts of the constitution they like. They’re required to obey all of it.
An unconstitutional law is unconstitutional from inception, not from the moment of successful challenge. If Congress needed a constitutional amendment for a national ban on ingesting alcohol, then they also need one for a national ban on ingesting cannabis. Where is it?
Legalize it and tax it.
this is a great step forward for the state and caregivers …and i just want to say to all the uneducated people who prob drink alcohol and have no education on medical marijuana …. we are still living in the past and you will see a big change when my generation and younger generations gets in to office …..they will have a open mind and lead this country in the right direction ….as long as this old generation thats in office with there ancient archaic beliefs doesn’t screw it up for us us younger generation we should do all right ……but people need to understand that We The Younger Generation, we dont think like you old folk .we dont care about race, color, creed , tattoos medical marijuana .we except every one and have open minds if we let 30 year olds and younger run this country you would see things get done… the changing times are coming .. you baby boomer hippie generation started it now its your kids who will end it and we need the grandparents out of there !!!!!
I love what you say but the only problem is, our nation of young can and will be easily corrupted by money and power as the ones who are in office now. Until there is a proper set of checks and balances in Washington D.C., nothing will change for the better for the average American.
Nor do you seem to attend school if you did you did not learn anything. We do see what I suspect as “your” generation daily in the front pages of the news.
School doesn’t teach you how to learn, it teaches you to “get in line”.
Real knowledge doesn’t come from some classroom, or lecture. It comes from living, from experience. Wisdom comes from knowing the difference between between being educated and knowledgeable.
And, Ive seen all ages, types and creeds in the front pages of the news there, chief. Maybe you aught to consider your position a bit more before pointing your finger at a group of people so plainly scapegoated by the media and society, constantly. Yep, younglings do dumb stuff, but so don’t old-timers. If you think people your age are any better as a whole then any other group of people of any other age, you are delusional. Tell me, what great things have people of your generation accomplished?
We didn’t start the fire.
It was always burning since the worlds been turning
Nothing ever burns down by itself. Every fire needs a little bit of help.
I am most likely a part of your generation and I can only hope that you never attain public office.
Bad comments:
“As you can see, the Maine Marijuana season is past peak”
The Ellsworth Police returned the stolen marijuana in their special purpose MTV
(marijuana transport van) It is a green composite material van which will not rust; a portion of the rear fender was burnt…..it was used in a 1978 movie and they got it real cheap.
At least the Rite Aid Pharmacies haven’t been robbed this week……..yet
Sergeant Stedenko (Retired) (aka Stacey Keach) was very upset with this event as he learned they could no longer “Shoot The Moon!”
This man has spent $300 for each patient he grows medical marijuana for. Now if the patients choose to use another caregiver, this man has lost this investment plus any money that might help recover costs for soil, fertilizers, containers, the greenhouse, any electricity used to power lights, plus I’d just bet he’d like to have been paid for his time spent taking care of the plants. This man lost his investment, his medicine and his income because of one thief and a justice system that refused to immediately give the man back his stolen property.
I’d like to know who pays for this? The criminal or the police department? Both? Now the criminal goes free with unsecured bail after costing another man thousands of dollars of his investment and income. It is so wrong.
Well it may be worth it to wait for the actual legal process to take place? The man hasn’t gone to trial yet, and I assume part of his sentence will include paying restitution.
Actually, given the way civil courts work, the grower should sue the thief for damages. That thief is likely to have his wages garnished for a LONG time, but the police are not to blame here.
I am having a vision…….becoming clearer and clearer…….it’s,it’s,it’s…..a chicken burrito…
Be sad for the thousand and thousands of our youth whose IQ’s are stolen because of the absolute lie of ‘Medical marijuana”…Police giving back stolen marijuana on the taxpayers dime…..I am in an alternative universe, please forward my mail….
No one’s IQ is “stolen” (as if it forced its way into your lungs) by using cannabis. Cannabis neither kills brain cells or otherwise lower your overall intelligence. I don’t see what’s so bad about this story. Property was stolen, and police found and returned it. I don’t see any issue with that. If we’re talking about an alternate universe or bizarro world, let’s talk about how prohibition still continues despite its disastrous failure in the 1920’s as well as the past 40 years.
Its crazy! Next thing you know women and black people will be able to vote. Whats this world coming to???
Please show me the evidence to back up your “Stolen IQ” claim.
Oh, you probably don’t even know anyway, so let me tell you a bit about where that comes from.
That claim, despite being proven as a complete lie, is one still perpetuated by the government to this day. It is based on a study done in the 60’s. They strapped gas-masks to a monkey’s face and pumped it full of Marijuana smoke. They were attempting to see the effects of long term use. However, instead of administering the smoke over a long period of time, they instead opted to concentrate the dose in order to speed up the experiment. In essence, what they did was suffocate the monkeys. Of course, any time your brain looses oxygen, it starts to die. So, what they did was suffocate them, then produce the result and said: “See! It kills brain cells!”. Hardly. Flawed science produces flawed results. In fact, during the Nixon administration he commissioned a report on Marijuana. It came back that it should be completely legal. He didn’t like that and started the War on Drugs anyway.
I could go on and on and on and on and on. Really, I could. You know they have THC pills, right? If Marijuana isnt Medicine, why are they trying to make it into it? Fact is, natural plant medicines have been used for thousands of years, and what you think of as medicine has only existed since 1804 (the discovery of alkaloids) at the very earliest.
Perhaps you should stay in your “alternative” universe. Its better that way.
It really is amazing how many people think they understand the law, but are totally clueless. If you think that this action was a violation of the CSA, then you are one of the clueless.
“Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known… It would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance.”
– Francis L. Young, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, 1988
It’s pretty obvious what police should do. It’s not necessarily an executive decision for the chief.
Suppose someone robs a pharmacy and makes off with a 1000 vicodin pills? Do the police destroy the pills when they recover them or otherwise refuse to return them to the pharmacy? Of course not.
There’s also the angle that city police are not charged with enforcing federal laws, that’s the FBI’s job. A city police officer who breaks state or city laws to enforce a federal law will be out of a job very shortly. Perhaps the FBI will hire him?
For that matter, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments would apply here. Congress needed a constitutional amendment to prohibit alcohol in the early 20th century, to allow them to overrule state laws on the matter. Where is the amendment that prohibits marijuana? The one prohibiting alcohol was repealed, and nothing else like it has been ratified. Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, but they do that by making inter-state marijuana trafficking illegal. They simply lack the power to override state law for intra-state matters.