In a landmark decision, a California appellate court became the nation’s first to rule that police can be sued for destroying marijuana plants even though the drug is banned under federal law.
The case involves a “medical marijuana” grower in Butte County, north of the state capital of Sacramento, who sued the local sheriff’s department because a deputy ordered him to destroy all but 12 of the 41 pot plants growing on his property.
the grower claimed that he had pooled his money and labor with six other patients, who would split the crop, and was therefore allowed to have the 41 plants.
Seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages, the pot grower sued the sheriff’s department and the county for constitutional violations and for violating his rights to cultivate and use medical marijuana
In its
2-1 ruling the appellate court said that medical marijuana growers can seek money damages when police raid their property and destroy their plants.
clipped from: www.judicialwatch.org