A man’s home was raided in Blackwood in Gloucester Township in South Jersey by local police who found he was growing exactly one cannabis plant.
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Unfortunately, growing even one plant at home remains a felony in the Garden State despite cannabis market legalization.
Homegrower Raided by Gloucester Township Police
“On October 17th, my house was raided. The warrant was for facilitating a marijuana cultivation and processing facility,” Phil DeAngelis wrote to Heady NJ.
“They thought they were walking into a grow house with hella weapons and money. I don’t sell. I’m just a pothead who grows to support my own smoke,” he explained in an interview. “They took all my medicine.”
DeAngelis noted that at 6 in the morning, they started yelling outside his home into a bullhorn like he was holding hostages. But he was sleeping and didn’t hear them.
“There was a SWAT team in my house,” he noted.
DeAngelis said he was body slammed along with his wife when they came in. His whole family, including young children, was then held at gunpoint by the police.
He was handcuffed quickly.
“I was just in boxers dude,” DeAngelis noted.
He said a cop demanded he show them plants and guns when he had 1 plant.
“They didn’t believe me,” DeAngelis said about his low plant count.
“They found 1 plant and 5 pounds and a half ounce of mushrooms in a bag,” he noted.
While caught with 1 plant, DeAngelis did say he was growing 5 plants recently.
While they had been harvested and were no longer being grown, the flower harvested was found by the police.
Even 5 plants growing is nowhere near the level of cultivation done by actually underground legacy operators.
Growing for Personal Consumption
“I grow as a hobby. I’ve never been into selling,” DeAngelis explained.
The police warrant was for operating an underground legacy weed manufacturing and processing facility, weapons, and the distribution of weed, he noted.
They didn’t find any weapons.
“They brought more guns into my guns than as ever been in my house,” DeAngelis declared. “It’s crazy man!”
Going after a guy for growing exactly one plant seems the sort of tyranny many Democrats are eager to denounce if it is committed on the orders of President Donald Trump.
DeAngelis is seeking assistance defending himself in the legal system via modest means. His court date is December 3rd.
Cannabis Homegrow Raid Fallout
The police said the one plant they found weighed 4 pounds, including the roots and stalk, DeAngelis noted.
You can’t smoke stems, roots, or stalks.
“The scale they took was for my nutrients…. I never used it to weigh weed,” he explained. “…There’s no residue on it.”
DeAngelis said that while in the police station, they were trying to figure out what to charge him with.
“They didn’t get what they were coming here for,” he explained. “…It’s nuts what they’re trying to charge me with.”
DeAngelis was charged with maintaining and operating a facility. He was also accused of child endangerment and selling weed hear a park.
But DeAngelis said the park is farther away than the cops alleged.
While he had a small indoor operation, the one plant was grown outside.
“I’m done growing,” DeAngelis said. “I never thought this is what it would come to.”
The Gloucester Township Police (GTPD) didn’t seem proud enough of their arrest of a family man with one plant to announce it on their website, versus serious crimes they stopped.
Cannabis Homegrowing by Unofficial Patient
“This medicine helps me,” DeAngelis explained. “…It helps me with my anxiety and sleeping,”
“I used to be addicted to heroin. It helps me cope with not needing other things,” he added.
Many people who used to struggle with heroin have reported finding great benefits in the far less deadly and addictive cannabis.
DeAngelis noted he smokes medicinally twice a day.
“It allows me to be me,” he noted.
DeAngelis said he previously had an official NJ medical cannabis card for anxiety and depression. However, he let it lapse.
You don’t need a prescription for a lot of over-the-counter (OTC) medications for sale in a pharmacy.
Family Man Homegrower Dealing with Issues
“I’m all about my kids,” DeAngelis explained. “I’m just a regular guy.”
He said the raid has negatively affected his 2 young children.
“My kid kept asking if my daddy is going to be ok,” DeAngelis noted. “He used to want to be a cop. Now he’s traumatized.”
Dealing with the fallout has been difficult for him.
“I lost my job because of this,” DeAngelis noted. “I was supposed to start a new job…”
He explained he was previously employed making instant coffee for Nestlé before they closed their nearby operation.
Notably, several dispensaries are operating in the different neighborhoods of Gloucester Township.
