Armed police raid home of mom-of-four with MS and accuse her of being a drug dealer even though she could legally grow it
- Ginnifer Hency is allowed drug under Michigan’s medical marijuana laws
- She suffers from multiple sclerosis and is allowed to grow and distribute
- Claims officers took daughter’s birthday money and seized family car
By Kate Pickles For Mailonline
Published: 04:55 EST, 5 June 2015 | Updated: 13:18 EST, 5 June 2015
Armed police raided a woman’s home and seized everything from a lawnmower to her daughter’s birthday money – because she was growing legal medical marijuana.
Ginnifer Hency, 56, suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease which causes her immune system to attack and destroy healthy nerve cells, and is allowed to grown and use the drug under Michigan’s medical marijuana law.
But this did not stop officers of Michigan’s St. Clair County Drug Task Force from raiding her home and taking her children’s bicycles, her husband’s gardening equipment, TV sets, soccer gear and children’s car seats.
Raided: Ginnifer Hency, speaking at the state’s house of representatives, is allowed to grow marijuana because she suffers from MS. But that did not stop police storming her home and seizing everything from a lawnmower to her daughter’s birthday cash
After they breached my door, at gunpoint, with masks they proceeded to take every belonging in my house. And when I say every belonging, I mean every belonging,’ she said.
The officers also took credit card statements, tax returns, and the public assistance card she used to help feed her family.
Mrs Shattuck testified at the Michigan state House of Representatives, stating that officers hung her lingerie from the ceiling fans as they ransacked her home.
She is a registered medical marijuana care giver which allows her to grow a certain quantity of marijuana plants to distribute to a small number of medical marijuana patients.
‘I was fully compliant with the Michigan medical marijuana laws,’ she told the Michigan House Judiciary Committee in testimony this week. ‘I am allowed to possess and deliver.’
Police suspected she might be selling marijuana to people without a medical marijuana card – something she denies.
She initially faced six criminal charges related to marijuana possession and distribution, three of which have since been dismissed by a district court judge, according to court papers.
She will later appear in court on the remaining charges.
St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon deny her account of proceedings and claim she is trying to ‘further her cause’ of complete legalization of the drug in the state.
Her case has reignited debate over civil forfeiture and drug laws and have raised questions about whether local authorities are appropriately seizing the property of people who are never convicted of a crime.
