New Hampshire police offer funny advice after seizing 25 marijuana plants
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police in Marlborough, New Hampshire, posted photos from a recent marijuana seizure on Facebook Wednesday. (Marlborough Police Department)
Police in Marlborough, New Hampshire, posted photos from a recent marijuana seizure on Facebook Wednesday, where they also shared a message about growing marijuana plants.
“FACT: Possessing small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in NH,” authorities wrote in part. “FACT: This doesn’t mean you can grow 25 marijuana plants on someone else’s property.”
Police listed another tidbit for readers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“FACT: Using your fine-tuned horticultural skills to grow delicious organic tomatoes is much more rewarding and much more legal,” the post said.
Included in the post were two photos of marijuana plants around a cruiser. A third showed a humorous sign, which police put on a stake and placed at the scene of the seizure, the Boston Globe reports.
“Sorry about your luck,” it said, adding that the plants could be claimed at the police department.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities chose not to conduct a deep investigation to determine ownership citing the time and cost involved, Sgt. Zachary Byam told the newspaper.
“The best solution was to remove the plants and spread the word,” Byam said. “It was one of those things where we had to draw the line somewhere, and I think that this was the best decision to be made.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Facebook post has received more than 940 reactions and 410 comments as of Sunday evening.
Police responded to several users in the comments section -- where they also left a message addressed to “Friends and not-so-friendly-followers.”
“A lot of you have jumped at the chance to point out how much of a waste of "manpower" and "taxpayer's money" this was,” authorities wrote, calling it “a very simple removal operation that took several officers less than an hour to accomplish from start to finish.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Material expenses consisted of five plastic garbage bags," they added. "The alternative would have been a lengthy, costly operation to identify the party responsible. Given that "ignoring it" is NOT an option for those of us obligated to uphold all laws, however "controversial," we made a decision to take care of the issue as responsibly and efficiently as possible. This situation was called in to us, and was not something we spent any effort in discovering on our own. You may not like it, but the law itself is not under our control and these plants being grown amount to a felony offense under current state law.”
Authorities added in part, “Contrary to many uninformed opinions shared here, we do not focus our attention to "busting pot" instead of addressing heroin or other drugs. We are responsible for many areas of the law and one seizure does not mean that any other drug issues are overlooked.”