Posted
7/29/2004 05:40:00 PM
by Douglas
We're certainly getting our
money's worth from the war on drugs. Or is it decorative
landscaping?Landscape contractor Blair Davis was in his northwest Harris County home around 2 p.m. Tuesday when there was a knock at his door.
Davis said he hadn't even gotten his hand on the doorknob when it flew open and he was looking at the barrel of a pistol.
Behind the gun were about 10 members of the Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, who burst into the home, guns drawn, and began shouting at him to get down on the floor.
There on the floor, Davis said, it took a while to figure out that what had caused the swarm of lawmen to descend upon him was the hibiscus in his front yard.
That's right, hibiscus.
Attacking the government for our erosion of liberty is a popular activity under the current administration, and is, for the most part, a hyperbolic reaction. But this sort of thing scares the crap out of me. The most frightening part of this story is the total lack of provocation on the part of the police. How did they get tipped off that this guy had some strange hibiscus on his property?
Evidently, some well-meaning but horticulturally challenged citizen turned Davis in.
So literally
anyone, from your neighbor that doesn't like your dog, to a total idiot that wouldn't know a hibiscus from an
orchid can call the cops, tell them you're growing pot, and have them kick down your door at gunpoint.
At least this guy was able to have a sense of humor about it, although I don't know how:
"They were in containers," he said: "I don't want to say potted plants."