Pubdate: Fri, 17 Feb 2012
Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Mail Tribune
Contact:  http://www.mailtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/642
Note: Only prints LTEs from within it's circulation area, 200 word count limit
Author: Chris Conrad

MEDICAL POT GARDEN SEIZED ON A TECHNICALITY

Legal marijuana operation was found to be in violation because a 
hired worker didn't have a grow card

Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement investigators cited two men on 
felony marijuana charges after it was found a medical marijuana 
garden operator illegally hired a man to tend to his crop.

MADGE investigators were called to the house in the 1400 block of 
Andrew Drive on Tuesday to look for evidence of an illegal marijuana garden.

They found marijuana growing in a backyard greenhouse and inside the 
home. The search yielded 62 mature plants, 104 starter plants, 13 
pounds of usable marijuana and 12 pounds of dried marijuana. The 
house also contained $4,355 in cash believed to be proceeds from drug 
trafficking, MADGE Lt. Brett Johnson said.

The resident, Garland Duane Winkle, 53, claimed the garden was within 
Oregon Medical Marijuana Program guidelines. He said he served 20 cardholders.

Johnson said the garden was within the 20-card limits, but had 
violated OMMP guidelines because Winkle had hired a man who did not 
have a marijuana card to maintain the garden.

"If you veer outside the guidelines then the entire grow operation 
becomes illegal," Johnson said. "You take your garden out of legal 
boundaries if you break the law."

Winkle reportedly hired Richard Bradley Seegmiller, 23, of the 200 
block of South Fifth Street in Central Point, to help process the marijuana.

Winkle and Seegmiller were cited for possession and manufacture of marijuana.

The entire garden was seized by MADGE and placed in storage until the 
case is adjudicated, Johnson said.

Johnson said medical marijuana providers should take pains to become 
familiar with the OMMP and state marijuana laws.

"We know that there are a lot of gardens that hire people without 
cards to work on processing marijuana," Johnson said. "If you do 
that, you are operating outside the law. You just can't have anyone 
come work on your medical marijuana garden."

The Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Team is a 
multijurisdictional drug and gang task force supported by the Oregon 
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program and the 
following law enforcement agencies: Medford Police Department, 
Jackson County Sheriff's Department, Oregon State Police, Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, Jackson County District Attorney's Office 
and Jackson County Community Justice.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom