Local cannabis business partner, Matt Little is furious after police seized 22 marijuana plants from a smoke shop where they were being held for customer pickup.
Little is a partner at Midwest Extraction Services in Waseca, and the plants had been labeled by strain or by THC concentration in accordance with the Minnesota hemp license, according to Little.
The incident comes on the heels of the new legislation that legalizes home growing, which took effect August 1.
Despite this, the rules surrounding public acquisition of the plants remain ambiguous, and police seized the plants without making any arrests.
Little had been on the phone with the smoke shop owners at the time of the raid, and attempted to initiate a dialogue with the law enforcement officers by phone. When this proved unsuccessful, Little contacted dispatch and asked to speak with a commanding officer, but was told they were unavailable. Little then contacted the city council and attorney, and finally visited the police station to speak with Chief of Police John Sherwin.
Little hopes to have further conversations to educate both municipality and law enforcement on the new law in order to avoid situations such as these, and has also requested the return of the plants, which together are valued at around $2,000.
Author:
Joshua Kafka
KFMC
Fairmont