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bc30629
Ethnobotaster
Registered: 02/10/05
Posts: 169
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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legal issues
#4092896 - 04/24/05 07:53 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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I know this should go in the legal forum but there are barely any people there and i know you guys are quick for an answer here.
From what i have heard.... growing mushrooms is legal as long as you do not posses them in the dried form? So say someone's house was searched and found a grow but there were no dried mushrooms... just fresh ones growing... can you get bagged for that?
If anyone knows the laws surrounding it please inform me. Also any other legal info about mushrooms would be awesome.
Also does it vary by state or is it federally mandated?
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4092912 - 04/24/05 07:56 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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in the united states my understanding is that cultivation is not legal period. possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms is not legal either (if you were caught with a bag after picking).
this is regardless of being dried or fresh, which i believe is the case in the netherlands and (formerly?) england
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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err, so yes they would get busted if they found a grow op
i don't think that there is an exception to that rule in any state
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agar
old hand
Registered: 11/21/04
Posts: 9,056
Loc: Somewhere Else
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4092922 - 04/24/05 07:58 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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You would have to give your general local in the world, before anyone could give you a compitant answer.
Good quick referance of mush law worldwide
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bc30629
Ethnobotaster
Registered: 02/10/05
Posts: 169
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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I hate the government and their hippocritical bullshit.
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bc30629
Ethnobotaster
Registered: 02/10/05
Posts: 169
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4092924 - 04/24/05 07:59 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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the states... new england
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4092955 - 04/24/05 08:08 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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as far as i know, not legal in new england. search your state's legislative website to find the exact laws if you wish.
it may not be under mushrooms, but instead psylocibin
it's schedule I
growing is what, a level 12 felony? i guess not that it matters TOO much...PF got off fairly lightly compared to what he could have gotten. luckily i live near him so if there were any legal "complications" i could easily just call the same lawyer he used if it was a good option.
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bc30629
Ethnobotaster
Registered: 02/10/05
Posts: 169
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Well i have never been arrested before so i dont know much about felony levels and such. What happened to PF when he was busted?
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agar
old hand
Registered: 11/21/04
Posts: 9,056
Loc: Somewhere Else
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4093019 - 04/24/05 08:24 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yup...... illegal in New England. Spores you can have.
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: agar]
#4093030 - 04/24/05 08:28 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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here is the PF story... http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_law10.shtml
basically he got caught w/ a "small grow op" ( he had like 10 ounces i think? ), when he was busted. he was high profile in the community though, it's not like they'd really concentrate their efforts on some dude starting out with 6 cakes in his bedroom.
he got off pretty well considering his circumstances, in my opinion.
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DerGeist
Completing theCycle
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 135
Loc: The Other Side
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He got off because he forked over BANK man, I would be willing to bet it was no small change that traded hands for his reduced charges. Just like OJ, don't matter if your guilty, or not, as long as you got the money to buy your way out.. I feel for the dude, but at the same time it makes me sick.. If it would have been Joe Shroomery grower, he'd be royally screwed.. I doubt many of us could afford PF's lawyer to boot, he is far from poor..
Just a shame too many people don't see how rotten the American Pie really is.
DG
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: DerGeist]
#4093166 - 04/24/05 09:02 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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PF's lawyer was just advertising in a phone book, but i imagine after getting that case he probably charges more for handling related charges.
i myself am pretty fucking poor, but i'm sure (well, i hope) if i ran into any legal trouble i would get financial support from family.
he forked over cash, yeah, and i guess i wasn't considering that as much, but i think if anything that just negated his other charges. weren't they tax related?
with a decent lawyer, and a modest grow op, i wonder what would happen to as you put it, joe shroomery.
seems like you're pretty safe to begin with if you're not selling and you're not advertising yourself as a grower, and that also would be beneficial in a legal defense because it would be some proof that you were not (as they might say) contributing to the delinquency of others, and were not profiting.
when i have more time i'll look into this more at my uni's law library.
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bc30629
Ethnobotaster
Registered: 02/10/05
Posts: 169
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4093254 - 04/24/05 09:25 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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so mycelium culture is legal. So if you had jars colonizing but not yet fruting you would be off the hook.
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fallingaway24
catatonic selfmedicator
Registered: 12/25/04
Posts: 419
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
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Re: legal issues [Re: bc30629]
#4093279 - 04/24/05 09:31 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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just think of it this way man, its illegal, there are certain small exceptions in a very few places, the only thing that is legal is the spores and thats not even true for all the states, and i'm not 100% but i bet if your house got busted for some reason they would find all the incriminating evidence they would need on your computer and unless you have a microscope there is no reason to even have spores other than to cultivate them in the laws eyes.
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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if all you have is spores in syringes, i don't think there is anything they can do if you're in a state where that is legal. they have to show intent, don't they?
it's like saying someone has a gun and just based on that they should be arrested because it COULD be used to commit a crime. intrinsically a gun in itself is not illegal to possess, just like syringes.
if you had a PMP, incubation chamber, and a bunch of PC'd jars sitting around, things might be a little different, but i hope the punishment for that would be less than after inocculation/fruiting because you haven't YET broken the law.
i don't know.
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Crasher
αἱρετίζω
Registered: 03/13/01
Posts: 6,220
Loc: Tardy to the Party
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I'm pretty sure a prosecutor would have a breeze establishing intent with colonizing jars, a PMP or similar setup, and the wealth of information your cookies would reveal about your habits online.
-------------------- Give me silence, water, hope; Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes...
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: Crasher]
#4093408 - 04/24/05 10:09 PM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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that's what i was trying to say, but i just don't know what the legal difference (particularly in terms of punishment) between potential (without you having inocculated, they would have to prove it "beyond a shadow of a doubt") intent and having actually comitted the crime.
they need more than just 'oh he has syringes and he visits shroomery' to have a solid case.
at least in theory
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Holydiver
Stranger
Registered: 03/19/01
Posts: 5,156
Loc: The midnight sea
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All very good points here. Has anyone ever heard of a mushroom bust case where dealing was not involved? I haven't, if one exists please bring it to my attention. I'm curious about this.
I'd say you have to be causing a lot of commotion to get the big guns after you, and even that takes some time (taps, surveillance, etc.) It has been done in the past for big growers/dealers, but I've never heard of this sort of thing going down on the small guy level.
-------------------- To find a place to live between the negatives and positives.
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pshawny
Mycobian
Registered: 09/11/04
Posts: 1,332
Loc: Shroomery
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
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Re: legal issues [Re: Holydiver]
#4093910 - 04/25/05 12:15 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yeah, for joe shroomer to get busted it would have to come about from his own stupidity. Don't draw attention to yourself and none will come your way.
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deathbychimney
45th GenerationRoman
Registered: 02/26/05
Posts: 239
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Re: legal issues [Re: Holydiver]
#4093972 - 04/25/05 12:44 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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additionally even if there WERE a case against a smaller guy, the fact that they are a "smaller guy" will likely be taken into consideration. on one hand they may say, "this person is just growing because of their personal interest in hallucinogens as well as an interest in mycology, so they're clearly not the big threat we are trying to stomp", but on the other hand they may say "we need to show all criminals of this sort that even the most benign violations are totally unacceptable".
i would like to think that they would pity joe shroomery a bit with his 6 BRF cakes and his modest haul that he presumably takes on his own and maybe with a couple of buddies, but there is no way to be sure. to increase your chances of a lighter sentence, you may want to maintain yourself as a harmless individual experimenting on his/her own, someone deserving of a wristslap, who isn't indicative of the "awful and morally corrupt" (in the eyes of the law) majority of drug producers/growers. it is wise to avoid any monetary exchanges for your goods, as well as trying your best to seperate yourself from any reputation involving illegal mushrooms.
if you desperately need to sell and want to be more safe doing so, you could always disassemble your equipment in such a manner that it becomes difficult to ascertain your involvement in the act of growing.
my theory is that by showing (with the aid of a lawyer) that someone is in fact a productive member of society, someone who meant no harm in violating the law and who would like to rectify their mistake by serving their community, that one could avoid jailtime for a reasonably sized grow-op. the key is making yourself out to be a law abiding, respectful individual, who with the exeception of their interest in illegal cultivation, is a model citizen. i can't prove that any of this would really work, but it seems reasonable enough as a precaution.
or you could go down in a blaze of glory and say that this is your right as a free american and that you believe so proudly in your rights as guaranteed by the constitution that you have no problem in standing up for what you believe it means to be free even if it means jailtime. you would also have to hold an american flag during your sentencing, though.
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Edited by deathbychimney (04/25/05 12:51 AM)
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