MASON CITY – Police prevented a North Iowa man from taking home his marijuana Friday morning.
According to Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals, Friday morning at about 8:51 AM, a member of the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force and the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suspicious package at a local parcel shipping company.
After an investigation, Christopher Michael West, age 45, of Ventura, was taken into custody near the 2300 block of South Jefferson Avenue and charged with Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver, Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
West was in possession of a large amount of marijuana that was shipped from another state that has legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes.
West transported to the Cerro Gordo County Jail booked and bonded out.
On January 1, 2014, marijuana sales for recreational use became legal in the state of Colorado.
SUBJECT IS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
How come the guy he was with wasn’t arrested?
They did more than ruin his day. They ruined his life.
He ruined his life. The cops just enforced the laws that are on the books. Responsibility, it’s what adults need to be good adults.
No, the bad laws ruined his life. Leave pot users alone!
And the cops have the moral responsibility to realize the evil that they do in enforcing these laws.
Legal authority is no substitute for moral authority.
I’m not particularly blaming the cops for getting a paycheck, but please don’t dignify morally what they do in marijuana busts by hiding behind “it’s the law”.
It was the law at one point to return escaped slaves back to slavery.
Would you argue that was moral?
We should organize bus charters to Colorado and call them buzz trips. Come on out and enjoy the fun! Screw law enforcement and rednecks! They can’t handle the truth.
Really. I thought you said you already lived there. Why would you need a bus?
Every parcel and every license plate is checked coming out of Colorado. The police are gonna love these easy pickings.
No adjoining states aren’t checking every plate that exits Colorado–it would be a total waste of time.
Second they would still need probable cause to do a search. And exiting Colorado is not probable cause.
Since when do police respect civil rights?
@rahmbo-they probably are not checking every vehicle. But, I did hear that all of the adjoining states and the airport are indeed watching very closely to make sure the laws are followed as is Colorado.
This is going to be the first of many stories like this. Let’s think positive for a moment. Maybe this guy was getting it for medical reasons, he just went about getting it illegally. The bigger problem here is some states legalizing marijuana while other states have not. Without having it having a black and white guideline to follow nationwide stories like this will keep happening.
It may be true that he got it for medical purposes. If so, then I apologize. In Iowa, law enforcement officers often charge someone with intent to deliver if they have any pot on them. The amount possessed could be 5 pounds or 5 grams or 1/5 of a gram. That could be the case here. I guess I should have waited before jumping on this. Sorry again.
There is no grey area in Iowa regarding medical marijuana. It is in fact black and white. It’s illegal in Iowa period.
This is a stupid man. He is one who gives the responsible cannabis users a bad name.
I guarantee you don’t know everything about this case, and calling the man stupid shows that you are the one giving others a bad name.
You’re right. I don’t know a lot about this case. But I do know that someone isn’t very bright if, a couple days after a state legalizes marijuana, and he lives in a state where marijuana is illegal, he goes down to the local UPS office to pick up a package that comes from the state where legalization started. Even our police can figure that one out buddy.
I happen to know the guy, and the thing is, you can’t walk a mile in Chris’ shoes, and neither can he.
Are you really saying that no one should accept a package mailed from Colorado because marijuana is legal there? I would imagine thousands of mailed packages come to Iowa daily from Colorado.
That makes no sense at all.
It was just as illegal to mail a package containing marijuana from Colorado 1 year ago as it is today.
remember the good old days of bring back a case or 2 or 6 of Coors from CO.?
How well I do!
Doesn’t taste nearly as good now as it did when I was 18.
Would a change in the law be ex post facto? Probably not.
Then that would prove we live in a blindly authoritative state rather than one of truth, logic, and justice. It would be like saying “All you slaves who were slaves before the defeat of the Confederacy are still slaves, but any of you Africans who haven’t yet been captured and enslaved are protected because of our 13th Amendment we just enacted.
Would that be just?
Birds of a feather…..
Pour yourself another beer Buzz. You deserve one. Icy cold, fermented, intoxicating.
Peter, do I have to send you another letter?
A beer buzz for me and my horse please! We’ve both been out fighting Indians, and are quite thirsty for some spoiled swill, to disorientate our senses further.
If it contains money…yes. But only because this stupid society has been designed incorrectly and places excessive and false burdens upon one’s body just to eat, and keep shelter over one’s head. Otherwise, I’d say keep your money, because it really is the root of all evil. A barter system would be much better. There are those who may remember the couple years when I turned the entire yard into a vegetable garden. That opened up a lot of minds. I had more tomatoes than I could get rid of. IMagine that? Growing food near your home, instead of getting it at the store (off the trucks).
But yeah, go ahead and send one.
Are you really Peter….the liar?
@Buzz-Like you, I am not sure that is Peter. There is someone who uses his name just to start controversy.
Are you really Buzz the buzzard? The bartender who works at Ransoms and won’t admit his identity?
Pee Eater —- You should grateful that I don’t work at Ransom’s, as I’m sure that I would have invited you to leave by now anyway. Also, lucky for you, I don’t drink, so there isn’t any need for me to be in Ransom’s in the first place.
It makes me wonder what will happen to people who have been convicted of marijuana possession crimes post-prohibition. Will they apply for post-conviction relief? I would think.
They deliver pizzas.