The sign outside Chris Restaurant in Brooklyn listed some staples of Caribbean cuisine among its offerings: homemade fried chicken, jerk chicken and stew fish. But according to the authorities, there was one item that it apparently did not advertise, at least not openly — marijuana.
Law enforcement officials on Tuesday accused workers at the restaurant, and at five other nearby businesses in Crown Heights, of peddling hundreds of pounds of marijuana along with potato chips, vegetarian entrees and incense.
Outside Chris Restaurant, some people who said that they had spent their money inside said they never noticed anything that seemed illegal taking place. But one man, Tony Richards, 38, who works as a house painter and a plasterer in the neighborhood, said he had noticed one thing about the place. “You see people go in and come out with a brown bag,” he said, adding that he assumed the bags held carry-out food.
The police raided the six businesses on Tuesday after an undercover operation and arrested eight people who worked at the businesses on a variety of charges, law enforcement authorities said. There were two restaurants, a deli, a bodega, a clothing shop and a music store. None of the owners had been arrested, officials said.
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I recently read about Joseph Casias being terminated from Wal-mart in Michigan. In 2008 he was "associate of the year," and shortly thereafter was diagnosed with sinus cancer and a brain tumor. His doctors prescribed medical marijuana ? legal in Michigan ? as part of his treatment for the pain.
When he tested positive for marijuana during a drug test, Wal-mart terminated him under their drug policy. Such intolerance toward medical marijuana patients is reprehensible. More than 80 percent of Americans now support medical use of pot to treat pain. In fact, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, said "it was unconscionable that the federal government had previously sought to not only deny but arrest and prosecute medical marijuana patients who are using the drug in accordance with state law to relieve pain and nausea."
Thank you, Congressman Hinchey, for your efforts in Congress to mandate such a policy regarding medical marijuana.
Gloria Whitmore, Owego
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Police in Oswego have busted a man for growing dozens of marijuana plants on the roof of his building. Police say Andrew MacMillen, 49, faces several charges, including a felony.
