(LoHud.com) MAHOPAC — A Mahopac man faces charges after a town officer determined that he was hunting while high on marijuana, Carmel Chief Michael Johnson said today.
Michael Cassidy, 47, was arrested around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday after Officer Thomas Johanson saw him carrying a long gun while walking on New York City Department of Environmental Protection property on Washington Road.
Johanson stopped to talk with Cassidy because he appeared to be trespassing on New York City land, police said. During the conversation, Johanson could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from Cassidy’s clothes, police said.
Cassidy later admitted that he had just smoked a joint and that he had marijuana on his person and in his car, police said.
Johanson charged Cassidy with hunting while impaired by drugs, a misdemeanor, unlawful possession of marijuana, failure to carrying a hunting license and failure to wear a back tag, violations. Police then turned him over to state Department of Environmental Conservation police for further charges.
OK, I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, I can’t believe the guy is so stupid as to admit breaking the law to a police officer. So the cop says he smells a strong odor of marijuana coming from your clothes? Great, it’s not against the law to smell like pot. Tell him you smell the strong odor of Krispy Kreme donuts coming from his uniform. (OK, maybe not.) There is a reason the cop shows always show them telling the perp he has a right to remain silent… it’s because you have an inalienable right to a heaping dose of STFU when you’re dealing with police! If he smells weed and uses that as probable cause to search you and finds weed, you’re just as busted as if you admitted you had weed. However, he may not choose to search you and you’re home free. If he searches you after you refused, your attorney may be able to throw out the search in court. And most certainly, keeping your mouth shut prevents him from determining that you are actually high at the moment, because possession doesn’t equal impairment.
On the other hand, anything that impedes stupid high people with guns can’t be all bad. I’m a big supporter of 2nd Amendment rights and hunting as part of my Idahoan DNA, but I take guns far too seriously to ever be around them and cannabis at the same time. Smoking a joint and going hunting is most certainly not a part of NORML’s Principles of Responsible Use.
i almosdt had a heart attack seeing this just now cuz i actually live in this town believe it or not….. the cops here ar HUGE dicks about pot jus cuz they have nothing else to do during the day
Yeah, sounds like the pot was just a footnote to this. He would have gotten busted without it. Still an idiot for blabbing so much.
Not wearing a back tag… no hunting license… Tresspassing on state land… He was just pointing a finger at himself saying… Come on… check me out and bust me, please.
As for tokin’ and hunting… I do it. When the temps get down to below zero… it helps me ignore the cold, but, I am safe with my weapons. I take care to make the “one shot, one kill” and am always sure of my “mark”, i.e. nothing or nobody behind it that could get hit by a “through and through”, but I am experienced… “gun totin’ raised” and “military” experience and daily practice… even in winter I have my range set up to shoot out my “man cave” window. I may take a few shots right now.
Im sick of hearing that cops have such great smell they can sniff out a pot smoker miles away! Its crap.
However this guy broke so many laws, hunting and criminal ones, then to top it off he had pot, another stupid stoner story to make all of us look bad!