A D.C. Man Walks Into A Police Station And Asks For Cannabis… And Gets It
By Martin Austermuhle, American University Radio
D.C. police
often confiscate drugs during the course of searches and arrests, but now D.C. residents are legally allowed to ask for them back — and one recently did.
According to D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), a resident walked into the Sixth District police station in Ward 7 on Monday and asked an officer on duty to return his marijuana to him, which had been confiscated during a prior arrest.
“He walked in to recover his property from a recent arrest,” said Alexander, who was told of the exchange by a staff member who witnessed it. “He walked in and said, ‘I want my property back, and want to make sure I get my weed back.'”
Alexander says that while the officer on duty was initially confused, the man did eventually recover his marijuana. “They gave him his weed back!” she said.
Under the marijuana legalization law that took effect last Thursday, residents over the age of 21 are allowed to possess up to two ounces of pot on their person, as well as use and grow marijuana within their private residence.
While police are allowed to confiscate the marijuana if no proof of age is provided or if an arrest for another offense occurs, a Special Order distributed to all officers last week specifies that the individual whose marijuana is seized is legally allowed to go to a police station to request that it be returned to them.
“A person whose marijuana or marijuana-infused edible goods was seized… may seek the return of their property by visiting the station in the District where the marijuana was seized no sooner than 24 hours after the seizure,” says the order.
If the marijuana is not claimed within 30 days, it is destroyed as contraband.
“Only in 6D,” laughed Alexander, referring to the police district that serves her ward.