Not sure if I posted in the right section. My friends house got raided they found grow lights and everything for hydroponic grow. They also found 10+ dead plants they were already cut down. Is he lookin at alot of time, this is in tx btw. Plants had been cut down 2 months ago but never thrown away. There was no nug though. What can they charge him with?
Good to know that's what i was thinking they didn't arrest him but confiscated everything and told him the narcotics officer would contact him or something.
Dead plants are still plants. If they where Marijuana and he had grow equipment as far as the DA is concerned he was growing. The grow gear would be considered fine by itself. The pot plants are highly illegal and he could be looking at time. I recommend he talks to a lawyer asap.
Probably both. Even if he was found with plants that had just sprouted, he would still get charged with possession. That's the way the law works in this country. You can't have a cannabis plant AT ALL
Hemp is still illegal to grow in this country Hence why we're still killing trees to make paper and other more earth-damaging forms of biofuel.
[quote name='"andromeda261"']george washington grew hemp as a cash crop... he was right on everything else[/quote] I'm sure if our presidents still had the mentality of our founder fathers we would all be better off
Hemp is not illegal. You need a permit to grow it, then they come and check up on you every so often. Plus the difference between hemp and sweet sweet MJ is quite noticeable. As for your friend, if it is his first offense, has a good lawyer he might get away with production of a controlled substance. If he has a record the court may make an example out of him. If I was in his position I would be finding the best Criminal Defense lawyer I could and prayed to god one of the DEA/ATF/Whoever raided the house forgot to cross a t or farted on the evidence or something. That is really his only chance. Unless the court gives him a first offense break of sorts.
Uh yes, it is illegal to grow. You get a permit to make it legal to grow. For everybody else, it's off limits. Just like being in possession of any prescribed schedule I narcotic without a prescription. Just like MMJ, it is illegal to grow without a permit from a doctor. Just like the work Johns Hopkins University is doing with psilocybin right now, it is illegal to synthesize your own psilocybin, without a permit. The list can go on and on.
Found out that he wasn't staying at the house because the power had been shut off for a week and they had left food in the fridge that started to rot. Someone reported the house vacant and the cops went to check on the house. When they got there they could smell the rotting food and thought there was a dead body inside. Upon entering the house the discovered the grow room. Plants already cut down and in a pile but hadn't been thrown away yet. They then went and picked him up from parents house and brought him there to question him while they waited to get a warrant to confiscate plants. So basically wouldn't that get thrown out in court since they entered the house and found it before getting a warrant?
Possibly, but as others have stated, he needs to talk to a lawyer (or 2, or 3). Initial consultations are usually no charge.
Probably not since they had probable cause to enter it since they thought there was a dead body inside and got called to do a welfare check on the house and its owner.
Yeah it'd only be thrown out if they had no legal reason to be there. It falls under the concept of "fruit of the poisonous tree".... I agree with Hgr on the fact that they had probable cause to enter, and its unfortunate for your friend. He still needs a lawyer though!