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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT]
#8502223 - 06/09/08 01:10 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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June 9, 2008 - sltrib.com
Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods 'It's the same as possessing cocaine or heroin,' says Summit County prosecutor
 PARK CITY - They're pretty to look at. You can buy them over the Internet. And a Summit County prosecutor concedes they're practically everywhere.
Nonetheless, an airline pilot and his flight attendant fiancée are facing a felony charge for possession of opium poppies - or more specifically, the dried seedpods from opium poppies.
Park City residents Bruce Sanchez and Cynthia Owens were bound over for trial last week by 3rd District Judge Bruce Lubeck for possession of opium poppies, a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
They also face misdemeanor charges for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
The pair pleaded not guilty. A trial has yet to be scheduled.
Sanchez and Owens say they lost their jobs at Delta Air Lines as an outcome of the criminal investigation. Each had worked for the airline for more than 20 years.
The details of their departure are sketchy. The veteran pilot said he was suspended without pay and chose to retire and claim pension benefits. Owens said she was fired.
A Delta spokeswoman said the airline would not comment.
An attorney for Sanchez, Richard Mauro, maintained the couple had purchased dried ornamental poppy seedpods over the Internet for decorative purposes. Further, he questioned whether the seedpods seized during a Sept. 20 narcotics strike-force raid were that of the opium poppy species, Papaver somniferum.
But in a preliminary hearing, botanist and Brigham Young University Professor Emeritus Stanley Welsh testified with "absolute certainty" that the seedpods were from the opium poppy.
Summit County Prosecutor Paul Christensen noted that the 40 seedpods and a small amount of marijuana seized from the couple's bedroom indicated they were not involved in drug trafficking.
But he added that the case would go forward because possessing any part of the opium poppy - except the seeds - is illegal, whether or not they were dried.
"It's the same as possessing cocaine or heroin," Christensen said, "because the Utah Legislature says so."
Park City police Capt. Rick Ryan said that because the criminal case has yet to be adjudicated, he could not comment on what led police to the Ontario Avenue residence.
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Coaster
Baʿal



Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
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Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: veggie]
#8502227 - 06/09/08 01:12 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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funny that they are so widely available
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Invisible_Woe


Registered: 05/25/07
Posts: 11,709
Loc: Mabase
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: Coaster]
#8502236 - 06/09/08 01:17 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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doesn't making nature against the law seem a bit...i don't know...unnatural/stupid...image one day maple trees become illegal....you cant have that tree in you back yard anymore...your going to jail now...you lawbreaking bastard..!
-------------------- These are not the answers you should be questioning.
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Coaster
Baʿal



Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: Invisible_Woe]
#8502246 - 06/09/08 01:20 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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ya its pretty dumb i agree
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MHbound
Ballin Out At All Cost


Registered: 09/24/07
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: Coaster]
#8503184 - 06/09/08 11:07 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'm so fucking tired of the war on drugs. The government needs to give it up...They fucking lost! You will never win EVER.
I'm sure these people were very good people, and they did this to them?! A pilot, and probably a nice lady. I mean what the fuck. I hope they feel good about ruining their lives.
You know I would really, really like to find the illegal shit ALL OF THE GOVERNMENT does, and make some citizens arrests or better yet assassinate the bastards. I mean this really strike a chord with me, and really gets me angry.
I for one am very good at what I do, am what you might call a "family man", and I am a threat to nobody. Yet the assholes chose to put me on trial!? I have 3 possession charges on my record...Why??? Not sure why. Lets overthrow the government, or better yet overgrow the fuckers...Sick of it.
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord

Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: MHbound]
#8503594 - 06/09/08 01:37 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Park City police Capt. Rick Ryan said that because the criminal case has yet to be adjudicated, he could not comment on what led police to the Ontario Avenue residence.
Ordering poppy pods from ebay.......
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
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pabloescabar
Stranger thanyou



Registered: 05/02/07
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: Chemy]
#8503797 - 06/09/08 02:32 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Utah laws suck. (I know that pods are illegal everywhere,duh) The Mormons control everything in Northern Utah. The tobacco age is 19yr, you have to be a member of a club to drink at most bars, and the beer has less alcohol in it. Also they are banning salvia along with everyone else.
I'm just waiting for the government to make all drug users have to wear little yellow stars.
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Irieforester
Head to toe inH2O




Registered: 03/10/08
Posts: 515
Loc: That state seperating fro...
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: pabloescabar]
#8505143 - 06/09/08 08:45 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
I'm just waiting for the government to make all drug users have to wear little yellow stars.
They decided to skip that step; they just go straight to the concentration camps nowadays.
-------------------- I am still and forever learning Apollyphelion said: You can learn A LOT from shitting in the right set and setting!
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mr_minds_eye
Disposable Wage Whore

Registered: 01/22/02
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: veggie]
#8506590 - 06/10/08 08:56 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I've seen naturalized poppies growing in Park City. UT laws are particularly strict. The only difference between northern and southern UT is LDS (you can have one wife) and FLDS (go get em Tiger). Beer is 3.2%alcohol and tastes terrible. UT produces some of the most mentally conditioned over-sheltered people that you will ever meet. They have a significant meth problem in UT though. One of the biggest groups that have been users there are Mormon housewives. BYU, the school that they got the botanist from, is the Mormon university. If you are not Mormon and do get accepted, you have to agree to follow the Mormon rules while you go there. The shit that these people believe is unreal. They have blinders on to the rest of the world to preserve them. Analytical thought is strongly discouraged. I honestly don't really care for them. I mean I can get a long OK. I just don't care for sheeple. Its like the Scientology of the 19th century. I wouldn't want to have to face charges there.
-------------------- Our quest for discovery fuels our creativity in all fields, not just science. If we reached the end of the line, the human spirit would shrivel and die. But I don't think we will ever stand still: we shall increase in complexity, if not in depth, and shall always be the center on an expanding horizon of possibilities. -Stephen Hawking
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pabloescabar
Stranger thanyou



Registered: 05/02/07
Posts: 383
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Re: Airlines veterans face felony charges over poppy seedpods [UT] [Re: mr_minds_eye]
#8508081 - 06/10/08 05:04 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I new I wasn't the only person on this forum that thought this way.
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