Legal help fighting CBD charge
Donation protected
I find myself in a challenging, and surreal situation.
I was driving from New Mexico to Montana to go see my mother,who has been ill and two grown children before heading to California. I had been in Taos, NM working on a novel for 7 months. I also worked at the local health food store. While, driving through Wyoming, I was pulled over for expired plates in Jackson. I was arrested for having expired plates, and an expired drivers license. Both of these things are an expensive ticket, which I was willing to pay. I explained to the officer since I was leaving New Mexico, and about to resettle back in California it made sense to me to wait till my return to California. The expired dates were recent. He did not offer a ticket, instead, he ARRESTED me!
It was ten in the morning, I had just come from my morning yoga practice. I was having a hard time understanding why this was happening. I have no criminal record, and had never been pulled over before. I am 50 years old. I told the officer, I was alright with the expensive ticket.
On the way to the Jail, he told me they would search my bag, and I would be held for a few hours while a court date was set up. He asked if I wanted to declare anything I had with me. I said no. I did not think I had anything worth declaring.
I had a 10 ml. bottle of hemp derived CBD oil in my bag. At my job in New Mexico we were often sent samples to the store, and I had thrown it in for back pain on the long trip. I have a major disc injury in my back.
The company Functional Remedies says on their website that they ship to all 50 states, I had seen cbd oil sold in a gas station in Wyoming where I had stopped the night before. I later found out that both Whole Grocer, and Lucky's market in Jackson sell the exact product, in a much larger size.
The jail held me for 12 hours without telling me why I was being held, I was in a small cell with only a small plastic mat on the floor, challenging for someone with back trouble. I was wearing only a little Prana, yoga dress. They eventually told me I was being charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. The officer who had arrested me eyeballed the amount and determined that the nearly empty bottle was 3 ml of THC oil.
I was held for 3 days, I was on my cycle, and given no feminine supplies for 24 hours. When I was asked if I had dietary needs, I mentioned I was vegetarian, I was told they did not do lifestyle diets. I was on a small plastic mat on the floor for two days. When I was finally released at 11pm. I was wearing just the yoga dress, now stained with blood, and had to walk the 15 miles to my friends house where I was staying. The cabs in Jackson had just stopped running to out of town.
The stories from my treatment at the jail are more than this, and I am certain this treatment was not unique to me. Rather, I am certain I actually received a much softer treatment.
I am now embroiled in a big legal battle. The state of Wyoming went to both Grocery stores, and seized their cbd products. However, these products are sold openly all over Wyoming.
I am now in Montana, and have to stay here to be able to return to Wyoming to fight this case. I immediately called the CBD company upon release from jail. They initially emailed, and called a few times. They sent me their certification as a registered hemp farm, and the third party testing from the bottle I had, which showed it had .002% THC...a trace amount, approximately the same that would be present in say hemp cooking oil. Which is still sold in the grocery stores in Jackson. The owner of the company Tim Gordon initially offered legal help, and support. Then all of a sudden, no more emails, no return phone calls.
For the past few years I have been taking trainings around the world understanding somatic therapies to work with trauma. I have worked with homeless youth, and taught yoga in prisons, and youth facilities. If I have a felony charge all that work goes away! I have been counseled to plea it down to a misdemeanor.
I feel like ...well, fight with all I have got! They have backed me into a corner that the only way out is go big...fight it, publicize it!
I am now in Montana, and Have sold my car, used all my funds, and borrowed to cover the $5,000 I have spent in costs associated with this.
I have more fees coming up, and more trips back and forth. I am looking for work, and a place to live in Montana. Where I did not intend to be, because I have months of court issues to get through. I am also now here with my last few hundred dollars, staying on a friends couch, with no vehicle.
Don't get me wrong...I am thrilled to have had a way to pay bail, and to hire a lawyer, because this would be a much more tragic story without that. Honestly, without the ability to be out, research, and prepare the case, I would be facing a felony with jail time. Remember this is about a little 10ml bottle of a product that was at the time sold at the local grocery store.
Things are a bit dismal right now, However...I am going to fight! I am working on getting a law firm with the means to take this case further if I lost a trial in Jackson. I am getting news interested, and trying to focus as many eyes on the case as possible. I am trying to advocate for myself financially while also working to find work!
I am going to be honest, I start to drift into despair at times, and wonder why I drove with the expired plates...It just did not seem like the risk would be that big....I am asking for help with covering some of the expenses of this issue, while I also seek creative solutions to the expense of taking the case further.
I appreciate your consideration of this plea...and if you cannot donate, at least share the story....Let people know this is happening!
I am grateful that I have the financial, social, and intellectual resources I have. If this was happening to someone else, it could be a much more desperate story. I want to fight for me, and for what could happen to someone with less ,if they found themselves in my place.
I was driving from New Mexico to Montana to go see my mother,who has been ill and two grown children before heading to California. I had been in Taos, NM working on a novel for 7 months. I also worked at the local health food store. While, driving through Wyoming, I was pulled over for expired plates in Jackson. I was arrested for having expired plates, and an expired drivers license. Both of these things are an expensive ticket, which I was willing to pay. I explained to the officer since I was leaving New Mexico, and about to resettle back in California it made sense to me to wait till my return to California. The expired dates were recent. He did not offer a ticket, instead, he ARRESTED me!
It was ten in the morning, I had just come from my morning yoga practice. I was having a hard time understanding why this was happening. I have no criminal record, and had never been pulled over before. I am 50 years old. I told the officer, I was alright with the expensive ticket.
On the way to the Jail, he told me they would search my bag, and I would be held for a few hours while a court date was set up. He asked if I wanted to declare anything I had with me. I said no. I did not think I had anything worth declaring.
I had a 10 ml. bottle of hemp derived CBD oil in my bag. At my job in New Mexico we were often sent samples to the store, and I had thrown it in for back pain on the long trip. I have a major disc injury in my back.
The company Functional Remedies says on their website that they ship to all 50 states, I had seen cbd oil sold in a gas station in Wyoming where I had stopped the night before. I later found out that both Whole Grocer, and Lucky's market in Jackson sell the exact product, in a much larger size.
The jail held me for 12 hours without telling me why I was being held, I was in a small cell with only a small plastic mat on the floor, challenging for someone with back trouble. I was wearing only a little Prana, yoga dress. They eventually told me I was being charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. The officer who had arrested me eyeballed the amount and determined that the nearly empty bottle was 3 ml of THC oil.
I was held for 3 days, I was on my cycle, and given no feminine supplies for 24 hours. When I was asked if I had dietary needs, I mentioned I was vegetarian, I was told they did not do lifestyle diets. I was on a small plastic mat on the floor for two days. When I was finally released at 11pm. I was wearing just the yoga dress, now stained with blood, and had to walk the 15 miles to my friends house where I was staying. The cabs in Jackson had just stopped running to out of town.
The stories from my treatment at the jail are more than this, and I am certain this treatment was not unique to me. Rather, I am certain I actually received a much softer treatment.
I am now embroiled in a big legal battle. The state of Wyoming went to both Grocery stores, and seized their cbd products. However, these products are sold openly all over Wyoming.
I am now in Montana, and have to stay here to be able to return to Wyoming to fight this case. I immediately called the CBD company upon release from jail. They initially emailed, and called a few times. They sent me their certification as a registered hemp farm, and the third party testing from the bottle I had, which showed it had .002% THC...a trace amount, approximately the same that would be present in say hemp cooking oil. Which is still sold in the grocery stores in Jackson. The owner of the company Tim Gordon initially offered legal help, and support. Then all of a sudden, no more emails, no return phone calls.
For the past few years I have been taking trainings around the world understanding somatic therapies to work with trauma. I have worked with homeless youth, and taught yoga in prisons, and youth facilities. If I have a felony charge all that work goes away! I have been counseled to plea it down to a misdemeanor.
I feel like ...well, fight with all I have got! They have backed me into a corner that the only way out is go big...fight it, publicize it!
I am now in Montana, and Have sold my car, used all my funds, and borrowed to cover the $5,000 I have spent in costs associated with this.
I have more fees coming up, and more trips back and forth. I am looking for work, and a place to live in Montana. Where I did not intend to be, because I have months of court issues to get through. I am also now here with my last few hundred dollars, staying on a friends couch, with no vehicle.
Don't get me wrong...I am thrilled to have had a way to pay bail, and to hire a lawyer, because this would be a much more tragic story without that. Honestly, without the ability to be out, research, and prepare the case, I would be facing a felony with jail time. Remember this is about a little 10ml bottle of a product that was at the time sold at the local grocery store.
Things are a bit dismal right now, However...I am going to fight! I am working on getting a law firm with the means to take this case further if I lost a trial in Jackson. I am getting news interested, and trying to focus as many eyes on the case as possible. I am trying to advocate for myself financially while also working to find work!
I am going to be honest, I start to drift into despair at times, and wonder why I drove with the expired plates...It just did not seem like the risk would be that big....I am asking for help with covering some of the expenses of this issue, while I also seek creative solutions to the expense of taking the case further.
I appreciate your consideration of this plea...and if you cannot donate, at least share the story....Let people know this is happening!
I am grateful that I have the financial, social, and intellectual resources I have. If this was happening to someone else, it could be a much more desperate story. I want to fight for me, and for what could happen to someone with less ,if they found themselves in my place.
Organizer
Nita Maddox
Organizer
Missoula, MT
