Marijuana.com

seanof_thebud

i was at my friend Dave's house, and we were smoking the night before. in the morning we walked into town to see my gf, after my mom came from nowhere all pissed off and tells us to get in the car. turns out his mom and dad went through my bag back at his house! for no reason!!! they just went through my shit and took over $80 of pot, my rolling machine and all my papers! even my ash tray! then my wallet turned up missing. was it legal for them just to go through my shit and take it like that???

 

The Blazemaster

Well, it is legal, within reason, so to speak. It is certainly illegal to say, steal someones bag and go through it, but if your friends mom is just casually going about her business, cleaning the house and moves your bag. Than happens to notice it smells of pot, you are breaking the law in her house and by not investigating, she is guilty by association.

So, yes that was completely legal as far as I know, because she was investigating whether or not someone was breaking the law in her house. Had she not investigated, and say the weed was found in the bag, without you or her son there, she would get the charge for possession, unless you decided to come clean and get her out of trouble, which I certainly hope you would do.

Perhaps you should have not left your weed at your friends house. Why couldnt you have spent the extra minute to stash it in his closet, or even brought it safely back to your house?

Think of how she may have thought at the time...

P.S. Did she take all your stuff and destroy it/get rid of it? If so, that does suck, but you couldve avoided it. Also, from what youve said, it seems like she told your parents. How are they handling things?

I really hope that the worst that happens is losing your stuff, and getting a talking to.

seanof_thebud

thanks! no its fine. my mom yelled. thats it. like i care

imFADED

It would be illegal for them to go through it randomly and keep the things they found, yes. But I guess if they are just incredibly nosy and said they just 'peaked' in it then it's not worth the argument.

__________________
Fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.

shibshib

IANAL but let me put my perspective on this...

Someone has the legal right to inspect things on/in their property for pretty much any reason they want unless there was some sort of agreed-upon conditions about not doing so.

So while it doesn't make the mom a criminal, it just makes her a discourteous host.

Then again, it also has to do with the condition of the search... for example, if she started looking through things like your digital planner, wallet, etc... that may border on the line of breaking the law... but again, nothing big enough that the cops would care. It would just be a situation where you would be told that the person is a douche and not to leave your stuff near them anymore.

The only psuedo-crime I see is the removal of your property. Since it is an illegal substance (unless you're a medical user), then you don't really have a leg to stand on complaining... although you could possible bring charges against her for the rolling papers and non-illegal items (though they are so worthless, again, its almost a non-case).

This, to me, seems like one of those... *technically* it was illegal, but only if you wanted to really push it, and also put yourself into potential legal problems your self (by filing a report that you got your weed taken). So realistically, now you know not to leave your bag when your friend's mom is a nazi.

 

Buzzby

Some might say that makes her a conscientious parent. If a guest were to come into my house and commit a crime, I'd say that voids any claim on guest rights.

Being concerned about your children doesn't make you a nazi. You do what ever you can to protect them.

__________________

BartSimpson

Whoa. Lets take a quick review.

You are a minor, likely 15 years old, based on your circumstances.
You were a guest in another minor's home, and had smoked weed in that minor's home.
You left your personal property in the custody of the minor's guardian, by abandoning it.

Does it occur to you that these parents knew you were getting their child high.
Does it occur to you that these parents want to protect their child from bad influences.
Does it occur to you that these parents were smart enough to wait for you to leave for the opportunity to make sure the values they uphold in their house are not being violated.

Given your arrogance, my guess is you are living with your mother, and Dad is not there.
Given your arrogance, my guess is you really don't give a shit about your future.
Given your arrogance, my guess is you will not comprehend the immaturity you display.

There is a much greater lesson here, yet you fret over some violation of rights that clearly you did not have as a minor and as a guest in another minor's home. Parents have the right to toss your friends stuff, and your stuff in your friends home. Far from illegal, their actions were exactly what a parent should have done.

But you will certainly not agree.

__________________

shibshib

The problem is that you only know if they have committed a crime once you invade their privacy. So I guess we should all frisk our guests just to be on the safe side?


I would say if you are concerned enough to make a calculated decision that your child is hanging out with someone committing a crime and to inspect their friend's belongings... you don't really need to check the belongings, just be a parent and tell your kid not to hang out with the other kid enough.

Now, if you are not enough of a parent to put your foot down, and require evidence--which is why you are going through other peoples' belongings, that is a different case entirely.

But like I said... no one is psychic, so you have to make the first move to violate someone else's privacy. If you choose to justify that, fair enough. But I am a huge privacy advocate.

The mom had every right to not like this kid... and to even not want her kid hanging around with him... but her right to protect her child does not give her the right to go through someone else's belongings.

If you are ok with this, then when does it stop?

Maybe I'm too young to understand the parent-part of this, but philosophically I think I am being fair.


Just a closing cliff-notes of my opinion: A parent has every right to be as nosey as they want with their own children... but I would not appreciate another parent invading my child's privacy (as I would hope my child would respect privacy). If I were this parent and I suspected the child of doing anything, I would do what my parents did when I was growing up... talk to the other parents of the child.

BartSimpson

The parents already enjoy a sphere of privacy that this individual invaded - you claim a special personal privacy within another's sphere of privacy. Therein it is property rights that you do not understand. He who owns the property has all the rights, and responsibilities.

phuzz01

The protections of the 4th amendment are only for unlawful searches by the government and its agents. Private parties on their own property can search anything and anyone they want. If you don't like it, you can simply grab your stuff and leave their property.