Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Hawaii - Here are excerpts from an article published in The Big Island Weekly October 14, 2009. See below for our comments & mahalo to journalist Tiffany Edwards Hunt and The Big Island Weekly:
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawai’i has put the Hawaii County Council on notice that police helicopter flyovers for marijuana eradication are believed to be in violation of the Hawaii Constitution, the state’s medical marijuana law, and the county’s Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance.
“We are particularly concerned that the Hawaii County Police Department (HCPD) is violating individuals’ privacy under Article I, S6 of the Hawaii Constitution, along with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance passed last year, and that HCPD may also be violating state law by targeting medical marijuana patients during these ‘marijuana eradication’ efforts,” ACLU of Hawaii Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck wrote the council’s Committee on Public Safety and Parks & Recreation on Oct. 6. The two-page letter was submitted as testimony to police’s Marijuana Eradication Report for August 2009.
Police Chief Harry Kubojiri refuted the claim that police are targeting medical marijuana patients.
“I’m going to repeat, because I’ve said it before, the Hawaii Police Department is not targeting medical marijuana patients during eradication missions,” Kubojiri said.
He maintained that police are in compliance with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance, spending “one-fourth of one percent” of their time and resources on marijuana, which, in his mind, illustrates the drug is a low priority for police.
“On the other hand, I don’t expect my officers nor am I directing my officers to ignore marijuana that they come across incidental to other investigations that they might be doing,” Kubojiri said.
The police chief pointed out that according to the state and federal laws marijuana is still illegal, and the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance does not legalize marijuana. The purpose of marijuana eradication missions is “marijuana suppression, anti-commercial cultivation, anti-trafficking, and anti-distribution of illicit substances, more specifically marijuana,” he said.
“On a daily basis, it makes me feel like I’m being invaded,” Mura (Pohiki resident) said of the helicopter fly-overs. “It makes criminals out of innocent people. People get disturbed, even those of us without having marijuana in our yards. It makes you wonder what it is like when you are growing. She noted the medical marijuana patients she knows who are growing. “They get so scared, and these people are legal. I mean, your heart rate changes when they start to fly.”
Gluck’s letter … refers to another incident in March in which DEA and HCPD “flew over one resident’s home four times, landed in his neighbor’s yard, and spent well over an hour hovering just a few dozen feet above his home.” DEA and HCPD had raided that same resident’s home in September 2008, despite the resident’s “full compliance with Hawaii’s medical marijuana laws.”
“During that raid, government officials refused to show identification and failed to produce a warrant,” Gluck wrote. “They have not produced a warrant to this date, despite breaking a fence to gain entry to the property. They seized his marijuana and, as a result, his health has suffered enormously. These actions by HCPD are simply unacceptable: this particular resident is a seriously ill medical marijuana patient, and the fly-overs cause him extraordinary distress which he fears may lead to a heart attack or a seizure. His poor health simply cannot take the level of harassment and strain brought on by HCPD.”
Kubojiri maintained that police, prior to executing a search warrant or embarking on an eradication mission, check with the state to see if a particular property owner believed to be in possession of or growing marijuana has a Department of Public Safety-issued medical marijuana certificate.
Dominic Yagong, who is now chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Parks & Recreation Committee after the highly-publicized reorganization, is concerned about allegations that police are targeting medical marijuana patients.
“My main concern has always been those patients who use marijuana for medical reasons,” Yagong said. “It saddens me when you hear of them either being raided or in their description being harassed, and I hope there is a way we can single out these medical marijuana patients, so they can live their lives without being raided.”
Gluck said in an email to the Big Island Weekly that ACLU of Hawaii wants to see council members, the Mayor’s office, and Hawaii County police working together “to best effectuate the voters’ wishes in passing the lowest law enforcement ordinance last year.”
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Commentary from Peaceful Sky Alliance:
If our Hawaii County Police Department continues to seek out medical marijuana patients for the purposes of identifying that they have no more than seven plants, they are in violation of our County ordinance that has defined ‘adult personal use’ as the ‘lowest law enforcement priority.’
‘Adult personal use’.. 24 plants or 24 ounces on private property by adults over the age of 21 years is our lowest priority period. No discussion. So why, Mr. Kubojiri have we seen your officers in Helicopters and ground crew coming to check on medical marijuana patients and hover over their gardens in helicopters .. ?
Why Mr. Kimura are we still seeing your office prosecute medical marijuana patients for ‘adult personal use’?
Neither of you gentlemen are permitted by law, to use our public funds this way. This has been the law since November 4, 2009. What about “lowest law enforcement priority” don’t you understand?
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Peaceful Sky Alliance
Copyright: 2009 Peaceful Sky Alliance
Contact: Contact Us – Peaceful Sky Alliance
Website: The ACLU says to HCPD.. stop harassing medical marijuana patients. – Peaceful Sky Alliance
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawai’i has put the Hawaii County Council on notice that police helicopter flyovers for marijuana eradication are believed to be in violation of the Hawaii Constitution, the state’s medical marijuana law, and the county’s Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance.
“We are particularly concerned that the Hawaii County Police Department (HCPD) is violating individuals’ privacy under Article I, S6 of the Hawaii Constitution, along with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance passed last year, and that HCPD may also be violating state law by targeting medical marijuana patients during these ‘marijuana eradication’ efforts,” ACLU of Hawaii Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck wrote the council’s Committee on Public Safety and Parks & Recreation on Oct. 6. The two-page letter was submitted as testimony to police’s Marijuana Eradication Report for August 2009.
Police Chief Harry Kubojiri refuted the claim that police are targeting medical marijuana patients.
“I’m going to repeat, because I’ve said it before, the Hawaii Police Department is not targeting medical marijuana patients during eradication missions,” Kubojiri said.
He maintained that police are in compliance with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance, spending “one-fourth of one percent” of their time and resources on marijuana, which, in his mind, illustrates the drug is a low priority for police.
“On the other hand, I don’t expect my officers nor am I directing my officers to ignore marijuana that they come across incidental to other investigations that they might be doing,” Kubojiri said.
The police chief pointed out that according to the state and federal laws marijuana is still illegal, and the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance does not legalize marijuana. The purpose of marijuana eradication missions is “marijuana suppression, anti-commercial cultivation, anti-trafficking, and anti-distribution of illicit substances, more specifically marijuana,” he said.
“On a daily basis, it makes me feel like I’m being invaded,” Mura (Pohiki resident) said of the helicopter fly-overs. “It makes criminals out of innocent people. People get disturbed, even those of us without having marijuana in our yards. It makes you wonder what it is like when you are growing. She noted the medical marijuana patients she knows who are growing. “They get so scared, and these people are legal. I mean, your heart rate changes when they start to fly.”
Gluck’s letter … refers to another incident in March in which DEA and HCPD “flew over one resident’s home four times, landed in his neighbor’s yard, and spent well over an hour hovering just a few dozen feet above his home.” DEA and HCPD had raided that same resident’s home in September 2008, despite the resident’s “full compliance with Hawaii’s medical marijuana laws.”
“During that raid, government officials refused to show identification and failed to produce a warrant,” Gluck wrote. “They have not produced a warrant to this date, despite breaking a fence to gain entry to the property. They seized his marijuana and, as a result, his health has suffered enormously. These actions by HCPD are simply unacceptable: this particular resident is a seriously ill medical marijuana patient, and the fly-overs cause him extraordinary distress which he fears may lead to a heart attack or a seizure. His poor health simply cannot take the level of harassment and strain brought on by HCPD.”
Kubojiri maintained that police, prior to executing a search warrant or embarking on an eradication mission, check with the state to see if a particular property owner believed to be in possession of or growing marijuana has a Department of Public Safety-issued medical marijuana certificate.
Dominic Yagong, who is now chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Parks & Recreation Committee after the highly-publicized reorganization, is concerned about allegations that police are targeting medical marijuana patients.
“My main concern has always been those patients who use marijuana for medical reasons,” Yagong said. “It saddens me when you hear of them either being raided or in their description being harassed, and I hope there is a way we can single out these medical marijuana patients, so they can live their lives without being raided.”
Gluck said in an email to the Big Island Weekly that ACLU of Hawaii wants to see council members, the Mayor’s office, and Hawaii County police working together “to best effectuate the voters’ wishes in passing the lowest law enforcement ordinance last year.”
————————-
Commentary from Peaceful Sky Alliance:
If our Hawaii County Police Department continues to seek out medical marijuana patients for the purposes of identifying that they have no more than seven plants, they are in violation of our County ordinance that has defined ‘adult personal use’ as the ‘lowest law enforcement priority.’
‘Adult personal use’.. 24 plants or 24 ounces on private property by adults over the age of 21 years is our lowest priority period. No discussion. So why, Mr. Kubojiri have we seen your officers in Helicopters and ground crew coming to check on medical marijuana patients and hover over their gardens in helicopters .. ?
Why Mr. Kimura are we still seeing your office prosecute medical marijuana patients for ‘adult personal use’?
Neither of you gentlemen are permitted by law, to use our public funds this way. This has been the law since November 4, 2009. What about “lowest law enforcement priority” don’t you understand?
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Peaceful Sky Alliance
Copyright: 2009 Peaceful Sky Alliance
Contact: Contact Us – Peaceful Sky Alliance
Website: The ACLU says to HCPD.. stop harassing medical marijuana patients. – Peaceful Sky Alliance
