Police Use Helicopter To Seize Grandma’s Marijuana Plant

Massachusetts Police Use Helicopter To Seize Single Marijuana Plant From Grandma

When an 81-year-old Massachusetts grandmother heard that the State Police and National Guard seized her one marijuana plant after tracking it with a helicopter on September 21, she simply couldn’t believe it.

Margaret Holcomb was away from home at the time, but her son, Tim Holcomb, said that he was home eating a late lunch with his sister when they heard chopper blades and saw a military-style helicopter circle the house, reports the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Two men crouched in an open door of the vehicle, holding a device that he believed to be a thermal marijuana detector.

“It’s scary as hell,” Tim Holcomb said.

The helicopter departed, but law enforcement officers arrived outside the house in several vehicles, including a pickup truck full of other previously seized marijuana plants.

“[An officer] asked me if I knew there was a marijuana plant growing on the property,” Tim explained. “I didn’t answer the question. I asked, ‘What are you doing here?'”

Authorities reportedly told him that they would not file criminal charges, as long as he did not escalate the interaction or demand a warrant. Officers have not charged any of the other marijuana growers with a crime.

Margaret, who does not have a prescription or other authorization to grow or own medical marijuana – citing the difficulty of obtaining a prescription and the difficulty of accessing a dispensary — said that she uses the plant as medicine to help her sleep at night and manage her glaucoma and arthritis, and that she intends to grow another marijuana plant.

“I’m prepared to take actions if I need to,” said Margaret, who contacted a criminal attorney to determine whether the officers acted illegally. “I don’t picture them out here and putting an 81-year-old woman in jail.”

Massachusetts is one of a few states that will be voting in November on whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana, notes WBUR. If ballot Question 4 passes, it would be legal for adults aged 21 and older, though there would be regulations on how much marijuana one could possess at any given time.

​Sources: Daily Hampshire Gazette, WBUR / Photo Credit: Bastique/Wikimedia Commons