I certainly knew a lot of friends and family that went down in these fishing expeditions. They watched as cops tore down all their hard work, including the lights, and walked out with their beloved plants, leaving their house looking much like a carcass on the Sahara after the bones had been picked, with dangling wires coming out of their ceiling, and nothing but legal troubles ahead.
Eventually, I gained the trust of this young man, and he opened up more than what he had spoken at his event.
Chase had a buddy with him whose friendship has remained solid throughout their lives. On the day the event began to unfold, Chase was hanging out with his friend and asked if he wanted to ride along to the grow store.
The raid took place not too long after the initial surveillance, before an early November morning in 2004. Unfortunately, they grabbed Chase’ s buddy, too.
“ My case was settled over two years later, in 2007. I received what’ s called a Suspended Imposition of Sentence— I was sentenced to two years of prison suspended upon completion of 18 months of what they call intensive probation( a home visit, weekly drug tests, regular visits to PO, drug treatment, etc.). The financial part is hard to estimate, maybe $ 50-70k in easily quantifiable expenses, tons of lost income, and I lost my first job out of college when they did a background check, etc.”
Back to Chase
I reached out to Chase as my own raidaversary approached and asked if he would let me tell his story for THE EVOLUTION Magazine.
Chase was hesitant at first, and in his first email response to me, he voiced his concerns.
“ I gotta let you know I’ ve considered withdrawing from participation because this is a really significant event to me, and it’ s important that it’ s represented accurately in any medium where it’ s going to live forever, be accessible to future employers, colleagues, etc.( I’ ve had a couple of experiences with articles that misrepresented my point of view.) So I just need to stress that as much of a hurry as you might be in to meet your deadline, please make sure that no liberties are taken with my story.”
I get that feeling entirely. There is an online story that has been shared many, many times, now in the form of a coffee table book, that claims I was sentenced to two years’ probation. The truth is I refused a plea bargain for two years of unsupervised probation, and had I received that sentence, I damn well would have appealed. But Judge Journey, despite being a bit of a coward by not dismissing the charges against me when my husband died, did agree to sentence me to time served.
Refusing probation and getting time served is an accurate and important part of my narrative. So, yeah! I get that.
I remember my first post-raid job, cleaning assisted living units for the elderly. The lady had me get down on my hands and knees with a mirror so she could look at the underside of her toilet bowl to make sure I had gotten it sufficiently cleaned for her. This was a humbling experience from being an ACLS cardiac rehab nurse a month before.
I often wonder where all that money they took from us goes. The investment we all had to make in our lights, timers, and everything we purchased for an indoor grow— it all gets taken. But where? Who profited? Were our possessions just split up among the cops involved, or did they auction our grow equipment, then follow home the buyers and bust them again?
Prohibition is the financial drain that keeps on taking and continues to prey on the poor and the middle class. The upper class seems to be able to use illicit drugs, and nobody cares. I am grateful to young people like Chase, who will continue to fight until cannabis has regained her rights in Kansas and worldwide.
Thank you, young man!
Dolores Montgomery Halbin, RN, BSN, and Ordained Nurse Minister, resides in SW Missouri. After her husband passed in 2015, she retired from nursing. She worked with the 2014- 2018 Missouri campaigns for legalized medical marijuana. She continues as a cannabis reform activist volunteering with Canna Convict Project and working toward Federal decriminalization through educational speaking and freelance journalism. Dolores Halbin, doloreshalbin @ gmail. com.
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