textfiles/drugs/ALT.DRUGS/medmjstory

Newsgroups: alt.hemp,alt.law-enforcement,talk.politics.drugs
Date: 14 Nov 1995 16:13:46 -0800

Hello All,

 Passing this story on to y'all as requested by the author, Randi Givens.
His email is R_Bivens@sfbayguardian.com

-alan

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Here's a "medical marijuana" morality tale I'd like to see in cyberspace, so
post it wherever you like. (I don't have a net connection or I'd do it
myself.) EVERYONE should know about the heros of the Kansas highway patrol. I
did this interview about a year and a half ago and both Elvy and Richard have
read and OK'd the article for publication.
rg.

**********************************************************

It helps to know that RICHARD DAVIS's Hemp Museum is covered with bumper
stickers such as "Honk If You Love Hemp," "Hemp-- Earth's Number One Source
of Fiber, Food, Fuel and Medicine" and a FULL GROWN HEMP PLANT (the stalk and
stems are LEGAL) on top of the truck. Also ELVY MUSIKKA is one of nine legal
marijuana users in the United States.

Non-profit circulation of this article unedited is free. Publication for
profit must conform to copyright law, which means---if you make a few bucks
using my work, I want my share. 


AN INCIDENT IN KANSAS
An interview with ELVY MUSIKKA and RICHARD DAVIS by  R Givens  c  1995  

On 21 June 1994 around 7:30pm, RICHARD DAVIS and ELVY MUSIKKA, a legal
marijuana user, were heading west in the Hemp Museum on I-70 near Salina,
Kansas when a Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) car began following them.

RICHARD DAVIS: He stayed on my tail or came up beside the truck looking at
the stickers for 15 or 20 minutes. When he stopped me, he said I wasn't
driving so good, but he followed me for a long time and a lot of traffic went
 by, so he wasn't too concerned until he decided to stop me. He came over all
steamed up, accusing me, "Look at  you. You're all  fucked up. Your eyes are
red......"  He had an attitude right from the start. He had me stand behind
the truck and went to talk to Elvy.

ELVY MUSIKKA: Officer Patrick introduced himself and said, "I stopped you
because your boyfriend has to be stoned. He's driving 60mph." It was a 65mph
zone and Richard was driving slower because the wind was blowing the truck
around. A minute later Officer Patrick was telling me that Richard was being
arrested because "He told me that he smoked marijuana." (laughs) As though I
was fool enough to believe Richard would  ever say something so stupid to a
highway patrolman. (laughs) I knew right then we were dealing with liars.
	
As soon as we stopped, I pulled out the Parade Magazine (12 June 1994) with
my picture on the cover, so Officer Patrick and the rest of them knew from
the very beginning that I receive legal marijuana from the government. He
asked what the maximum I can carry is and I told him I can have a three-month
supply, which is a lot, because I'm expected to smoke 300 joints a month.
Then Officer Patrick wanted to check my pouch, so I showed him my
prescription bottle. He smelled the weed and said it smelled very good. He
thought it was too good to be government pot. I guess he had read enough to
know that the government only gives out trash. He wondered about them being
hand-rolled, but the government marijuana is freeze dried and I have to wet
it and re-roll it because it's too harsh. 
	
Officer Patrick never questioned that I was a legal smoker, but he was
determined to arrest Richard no matter what. He was upset because Richard
chose to exercise his 1st Amendment Rights with his bumper stickers and the
hemp plant on top of the truck. Cops like Officer Patrick think they are
above the law. This was proven by the way they harassed us for the next five
hours.

RICHARD DAVIS: Within 20 minutes four squad cars were there. Patrick started
out threatening me with jail and they kept asking for consent to search the
back of the truck. Every once in a while they would come over in a group and
seriously discuss getting permission to search. They asked several times, but
I refused. They said they were going to take me to jail anyway. Officer
Patrick was convinced that he was going to get in the back and nail me for
200 pounds of weed he seemed to think I had in there. (laughs) They kept
saying, "Let us take a look. If it's only a little bit for personal use, we
don't care." They hinted that they would just take the weed and let us go,
but they weren't giving any guarantees. They finally decided to get a drug
dog. If the dog got a positive response for marijuana, that would be their
probable cause.

ELVY MUSIKKA: (laughs hard) There I was dressed in HEMP, we are driving a
HEMP museum, they already know I'm a LEGAL MARIJUANA USER (laughs), and they
needed a drug dog to determine there was some HEMP there. (laughs) As soon as
the dog arrived, it was time for my medicine, so I lit up and smoked a whole
joint. By then we had been detained four hours.

RICHARD DAVIS: We told them over and over that we would not  approve a
search. They knew full well that they were doing an ILLEGAL SEARCH. Elvy even
asked if they had a warrant signed by a judge. Their answer was "No, but we
can get one." They never did though. 
	
We were a couple of hours into this before Officer Patrick snapped and read
me my rights. He said I had the right to remain silent, so I shut up. Until
then I was very cooperative and tried to educate them about hemp. All they
did was threaten me with jail and constantly ask to search the truck.
	
After they got the dog they decide they could search the back of the truck.
They thought I had the keys even though they patted me down right after they
stopped us. One of the troopers took a one bladed swiss army type knife the
Hemp Rope People gave me. I guess he liked the knife until he found out I
wasn't going to jail. We had to wait an extra hour while the officer brought
the knife back. Anyway, the keys were in the ignition, so they got in without
breaking the lock.
	
Once they got in back, they went through Elvy's stuff and found a half pound
of good bud and some very good leaf a dealer GAVE her because the government
shorted Elvy a month's supply on her prescription. When they found that they
said, "we've got him on sales!"

ELVY MUSIKKA: They were in  MY suitcase threatening Richard with "sales." My
suitcase was totally locked. They destroyed the zipper and went through ALL
of my personal belongings. It was a violation of my privacy in every way.
They were opening sealed containers and poking through EVERYTHING. They had
the audacity to open my government marijuana can, which was sealed exactly
the way I get it. I purposely keep it sealed so if anybody gets in there it
has to be an ILLEGAL SEARCH. 
	
I had a few government joints on top and some good bud and some very good
leaf for baking. I like cookies because of the hassle of smoking on the road.
Anyway, according to the court order of Judge Markey Bolin, I am entitled to
do  WHATEVER it takes LEGAL or ILLEGAL to preserve my sight. That's in the
Judge's decision.
	
They took the good marijuana and left me a few days supply of government
trash. they even stole my government prescription marijuana container.
Officer Patrick and the rest of them may be interested to know that they
definitely put my vision at risk by stealing my medicine. I have a tolerance
to the standard glaucoma medicines and if my doctor hadn't arranged an
emergency shipment, I would have been in real trouble. The stuff the troopers
left only lasted a few days. 

RICHARD DAVIS: Now, let's get this straight. Elvy had that bud because she
was shorted a month's supply by the government. THEY admitted as much when
they Federal Expressed 300 joints to a Motel 6. Those highway patrolmen
weren't satisfied with harassing us for five hours in the middle of the
night; they had to take a glaucoma patient's medicine before they were happy.
	
I feel sorry for people like Officer Patrick because this War on Drugs
completely compromises their morality. It absolutely destroys their integrity
going around lying and abusing citizens rights. I would be amazed if all the
pot they took ended up in the DA's office. The property receipt they gave us
was so illegible that it says absolutely nothing about what they took. You
can't read a word. Maybe that's their idea of honesty.
	
They know damn well  that marijuana isn't dangerous. At no time did these
cops act as  though they thought we were a threat. They never handcuffed me 
and they left me alone several times while they badgered Elvy. They thanked
us over and over for being so courteous. After being detained for five hours
and being robbed by a gang of thieves with badges, all they did was give me a
warning citation for a cracked windshield that doesn't require any action.
They took over a half pound of marijuana, but they never arrested ANYBODY for
ANYTHING. How can they do that???
	
They broke a bunch of stuff in the Hemp Museum during their search. They
offered to put everything back, but they made it pretty clear that they would
wreck everything they could if they had to clean up their own mess. So I
stood out  there in the middle of the night trying to get everything back in
the truck.

ELVY MUSIKKA: Officer Patrick and the other highway patrolmen might be
interested to know that they made me feel like I was in some foreign police
state where you don't have any rights. Those troopers made me feel I was in a
very different country than the one where I took an oath to defend and uphold
the Constitution. I became a citizen by choice, not chance, and I know  my
rights. Seeing these Kansas highway patrolmen trample on the Constitution
made me feel very bad. They knew our rights, but they didn't care if they
violated them. Officer Patrick and the rest of them knew right from the
beginning that I have a legal right to have marijuana, but they didn't let
that stop them. I'm considering a civil rights suit.
77777771632



-- 
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		     alan@walstib.com  [Alan Silverman]