Plant is called hibiscus, but it won't get you high Officials mistake the popular foliage for pot and storm home of contractor By S.K. BARDWELL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Landscape contractor Blair Davis was in his northwest Harris County home around 2 p.m. Tuesday when there was a knock at his door. Davis said he hadn't even gotten his hand on the doorknob when it flew open and he was looking at the barrel of a pistol. Behind the gun were about 10 members of the Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, who burst into the home, guns drawn, and began shouting at him to get down on the floor. There on the floor, Davis said, it took a while to figure out that what had caused the swarm of lawmen to descend upon him was the hibiscus in his front yard. That's right, hibiscus. The foliage of the Texas Star hibiscus, a native plant that's growing in popularity, vaguely resembles that of mar1juana. But: "It's got white buds on it," Davis said. "Hello." Davis had several of the plants in his yard, where he grows stock for his business. "They were in containers," he said: "I don't want to say potted plants." Evidently, some well-meaning but horticulturally challenged citizen turned Davis in. Davis said the team of narcotics officers combed his house for about an hour, at one point discussing whether red and gold bamboo growing in his window might be mar1juana. They also asked what he did with the watermelons and cantaloupes growing in his back yard. "What would I do with them?" Davis said. Finally the officers gave up and left, leaving Davis only a "citizen's information card" with "closed-report" written on it. "No apology, no nothing," Davis said. "I realize they have a job to do, but this seems a little bizarre." Calls to the task force were not returned Wednesday. Davis hasn't let the episode put him off the Texas Star hibiscus. "It tolerates heat and drought and our rains," he said. "It's a great plant, except for the police." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2707648
Good thing all the serious crime in Houston has been solved already so the cops could raid this guys house...
What did he expect? Duuuuuuuude. We like totally messed up. Hey -- you wanna go score some taco bell?? Except for the gun bit -- pretty funny story!
Duuuuuuuude. you mean they were in the Front yard? Gnarly. Duuuuuuude. we like totally forgot the warrant Duuuuuuuude. your lawyer's being like totally bogus hassling us all the time.
That's what got me. Do the nosey neighbors and the police really think this guy is going to grow pot in his front yard?
As long as prohibition is the policy we use to deal with drug use in our society, stories like this will continue to pop up.
@ xcharged "shut up, i love this song...." jaming..... gotta love good old stoned clancy wiggum......
We have mar1juana plants growing around my place naturually. That hibiscus plant doesn't really look like it that much other then having 5 leaves.
Hey you never know he could be selling pot to gather money to fund terrorists. Reenactment of cop scene: Lets get this guy! Anyone that is affiliated with pot is a terrorist. Oh damn! This aint even pot. What do we do now Sarge? Oh nothing don't worry about it he wont be able to win a lawsuit because were cops and were down with homeland security.
Actually, you'd be surprised. One of my friends who is a cop said that at least once or twice each year, some guy will come to the downtown police narcotics division and ask them to test his drugs to make sure they are real because he was worried that the guy who sold them to him was trying to rip him off by selling him something that wasn't really mar1juana or cocaine or whatever. Seriously. And that doesn't even cover all the people who call in each year to report that they had been robbed and that the only thing that had been stolen was their drugs. They've even had DEALERS call in and say, "Yeah, I had a huge stash of drugs and some dudes broke into my house and stole it all." Seriously.
Pigs. This is your War on Drugs. He's lucky he didn't get shot in the face when he answered the door. Hmmmm.... maybe this is better saved for the D&D forum... Doesn't matter anyway though, nothing we can do. The War on Drugs is an industry. There is NOT enough non-drug related crime to keep the millions of law enforecement officers in this country employed. If they ever de-criminalize weed there will be a whole LOT of unemployed cops...
How true. I managed apartments many many years ago, and a resident ran out of his apartment threatening one of our landscapers because he was tilling under the resident's pot seedlings that were in the landscape bed by his patio.
