News (Media Awareness Project) - US NY: Police Bust Club Selling Marijuana For Medicinal Use |
| Title: | US NY: Police Bust Club Selling Marijuana For Medicinal Use |
| Published On: | 2000-11-09 |
| Source: | New York Times (NY) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 02:59:52 |
POLICE BUST CLUB SELLING MARIJUANA FOR MEDICINAL USE
The police arrested eight people and seized more than a pound of marijuana
at a medical marijuana club in the East Village last night, the police and
the club's lawyer said.
Three of the people arrested were charged with criminal sale of marijuana,
a felony, said Jerry Varson, a police spokesman.
Mr. Varson said that officers from the Manhattan narcotics unit happened to
see two men selling marijuana in front of 130 East Seventh Street at 7 p.m.
and followed them inside the building, where they found marijuana being
sold in an apartment full of people.
The officers arrested the two men they had seen outside on charges of
selling marijuana, and they also arrested one man inside on sale charges:
Kenneth Toglia, 34, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Mr. Toglia is a member of the
Big Apple Medical Marijuana Buyers' Club and the apartment is the club's
headquarters, said Stanley Cohen, the club's lawyer.
The club is about a year and a half old but is the descendant of several
other medical marijuana clubs that have come and gone in the East Village
and Lower East Side over the last 15 years, Mr. Cohen said.
Every week, Mr. Cohen said, chemotherapy patients, people with full- blown
AIDS, and other sick people come to the club to buy marijuana, which is
sold to them at cost. Medical marijuana's proponents say that the drug
relieves nausea and many other pains associated with life-threatening
illnesses and restores appetite.
Mr. Cohen said the police periodically raid such clubs to break them up.
Mr. Cohen said he doubted the police's contention that the officers
inadvertently stumbled onto the club.
"This is a narcotics unit," he said. "They're not assigned to a particular
precinct, they're assigned to special raids. In any case, if they are
telling the truth, the case just went down the tubes because that would be
an illegal search and seizure."
The men arrested on charges of selling marijuana in front of the building
were Cesar Gonzalez, 18, of Monroe Street on the Lower East Side and Glenn
Adams, 20, who is homeless, Mr. Varson said. The five other people arrested
in the apartment were charged with simple possession and were released
after being given summonses, Mr. Varson said.
The police arrested eight people and seized more than a pound of marijuana
at a medical marijuana club in the East Village last night, the police and
the club's lawyer said.
Three of the people arrested were charged with criminal sale of marijuana,
a felony, said Jerry Varson, a police spokesman.
Mr. Varson said that officers from the Manhattan narcotics unit happened to
see two men selling marijuana in front of 130 East Seventh Street at 7 p.m.
and followed them inside the building, where they found marijuana being
sold in an apartment full of people.
The officers arrested the two men they had seen outside on charges of
selling marijuana, and they also arrested one man inside on sale charges:
Kenneth Toglia, 34, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Mr. Toglia is a member of the
Big Apple Medical Marijuana Buyers' Club and the apartment is the club's
headquarters, said Stanley Cohen, the club's lawyer.
The club is about a year and a half old but is the descendant of several
other medical marijuana clubs that have come and gone in the East Village
and Lower East Side over the last 15 years, Mr. Cohen said.
Every week, Mr. Cohen said, chemotherapy patients, people with full- blown
AIDS, and other sick people come to the club to buy marijuana, which is
sold to them at cost. Medical marijuana's proponents say that the drug
relieves nausea and many other pains associated with life-threatening
illnesses and restores appetite.
Mr. Cohen said the police periodically raid such clubs to break them up.
Mr. Cohen said he doubted the police's contention that the officers
inadvertently stumbled onto the club.
"This is a narcotics unit," he said. "They're not assigned to a particular
precinct, they're assigned to special raids. In any case, if they are
telling the truth, the case just went down the tubes because that would be
an illegal search and seizure."
The men arrested on charges of selling marijuana in front of the building
were Cesar Gonzalez, 18, of Monroe Street on the Lower East Side and Glenn
Adams, 20, who is homeless, Mr. Varson said. The five other people arrested
in the apartment were charged with simple possession and were released
after being given summonses, Mr. Varson said.
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