Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jan 2016
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Garry Cooper

MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT IN COUNTY IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Beginning as early as 2013, the law enforcement industry developed a 
plan to address medicinal marijuana grows using land use policy, a 
seemingly innocent and practical approach. What was actually planned 
and then orchestrated by that community, in collusion with the Butte 
County Board of Supervisors along with the various county department 
heads, was an illegal and unconstitutional scheme to form a 
semi-secret police force disguised as "building code enforcement 
officers," none of which had any building inspection training and all 
of which had a law enforcement background. In fact, every one of 
these building officials were from a law enforcement background.

Once formed, a well-planned conspiracy to violate the civil rights of 
a particular class of people was implemented.

Based upon Butte County's Measure A, the medicinal marijuana 
ordinance which was drawn and mostly funded by that same law 
enforcement community, this secret police force was teamed up with 
regular sheriff's deputies and thousands of residents' homes were 
raided, including using threats of getting a warrant and future 
raids. In some cases, what is known as an "inspection warrant" was 
used to gain access. These warrants are highly legally questionable 
and have historically only been used for building code violations 
actually reported, and tolerated by our society. These warrants 
require no probable cause or evidence and were improperly used in 
lieu of search warrants.

Often times, no violations were alleged or even a grow found and the 
police were the only complainant.

This, folks, is blatant criminal constitutional abuse.

- - Garry Cooper, Durham
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom