MS: Hunting Club Sues Sheriff's Dept. for Pot Mistake

Discussion in 'Marijuana News' started by IndianaToker, Jan 25, 2005.

  1. Associated Press - Jan. 25, 2005

    GULFPORT, Miss. - A Harrison County hunting club owner has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking compensation for law enforcement officers' destruction of kenaf plants, a look-alike for marijuana and used as feed to attract deer. Authorities raided the Boargog Hunting Club in September and seized 500 suspicious plants. After the raid, Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. said the plants were believed to be marijuana. Payne later said his deputies were only assisting agents assigned to a federal drug enforcement team. Marian Waltman, the club owner, sued Payne and his department for damages. The plants were on land leased by the club from a timber company. While a trial date has not been set, the case appears on the U.S. District Court schedule for November. Waltman sought $225,000 in compensation before his attorney filed the civil suit in federal court. Crime lab results from tests of the plants have not been made public. Waltman was not charged in the raid. However, his complaint accuses the sheriff and his agents of negligence, trespassing, invasion of privacy and defamation. Africans grew kenaf as early as 6000 B.C., and within the last century it has been grown in India, Asia, Africa, the Near East and Latin America. U.S. farmers devoted about 12,000 acres to kenaf in recent years, mostly in Texas, Mississippi and Georgia. Kenaf comes in two varieties: One with leaves that resemble marijuana, the other with heart-shaped leaves similar to the hibiscus plant, a kenaf cousin. Waltman said the kenaf plant has seven leaves at the top and okra-looking leaves at the bottom. He said marijuana only has five leaves.

    Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com
    Link to article: http://espn.go.com/outdoors/conservation/news/2005/0125/1975112.html
     

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