UK - paraphernalia confiscation

[MrGuyUK]

Hi.

SWIM Had a nasty lil run in with the police last nite. SWIM (d) and 3 friends (j, s and r) were sat in the top of the local park at midnight last nite. J was goin on holiday this weekend so had just picked up a Q (7g) of bud for the holiday. they were sayin goodbyes and awaiting for another friend, m who would soon be leaving the country potentially forever this weekend so saying even more goodbyes.

just as J sparked a spliff, a big torch turns on a few feet away from them and they hear the warm friendly "whats going on here" of the law. a police man and woman - poop. j had his box (with bacci skins in etc) on the floor and d had devils sticks, jugglin balls etc on the floor so there was no way they could get stuff together and run - so they didnt even try. originally they questioned j, he admitted to having a Q and a couple more biff he'd found. no more than say 8g in total. they then saw d's bag and asked if d had any drugs. "not that im aware of" he replied. the police searched his bag and found his box. in the box, they found ammongst other things a baggis, a baggi with a tiny ammount of bud in. like miniscule, maybe 0.2g if that. and a grinder (a very nice brushed steel, 4 part grinder.) now this grinder was of immense sentimental value for d. his 2 good friends bought it for his bday a year and a half ago and its been used numerous times a day since.

long story short, d and j ended up with a street caution (police checked d and j's record over the radio, both had minor discrepancies for underage drinking a few years ago.) all the bud got taken and then they also said they'd take D's grinder.

now these police were a shambles. they didnt have proper bud search forms, they didn't know what form to fill in, and didnt know which ones to give to d and j. d now has "stop and search form."

d admits that it they were breaking the law and general carelessness resulted in bud getting taken by the police.

however, the one thing that makes d anal about all this is his grinder. on the stop and search form, it says they only foun "cannabis bush." there's no mention of a grinder. so for all d knows, that police man could be sat at home now, using d's lovely grinder in the process of skinnin himself a nice fat one.

so my question is (on behalf of d) is it a reasonable response for d to pay a visit to the police station later to go enquire about this grinder, why it was taken, where it is now, why it wasnt mentioned on the forms, and more importantly: can he have it back.

i mean in all seriousness, d doesn't really expect to get it back, but surely the search forms and stuff should mention everything that gets confiscated. and if thats the case, then technically they shouldn't have d's grinder (at least without having it mentioned on the search forms.) also, shouldnt d and j have ended up witha specific "cannabis search" form thingy?

also, under what laws and circumstances can paraphernalia such as a grinder be confiscated by police in the UK.

thanks.

[Ontherooftops]

If the grinder in question has been used for cannabis and wasn't cleaned prior to confiscation, an inquiry wouln't be recommended. In the US atleast, swim is pretty sure a grinder is considered cannabis paraphenalia and is therefore not legal. Even if somehow one could convince a police officer that the grinder was for cooking herbs, they would be probably still be suspicious and a simple test could tell them that the grinder did indeed have THC on it.

Not sure what the laws in the UK are about paraphenalia, the information is probably available in whatever scheduling act is used in the UK, and such things are a good thing to read for a drug user anyhoo.

[Raw edge]

It's only a grinder. You have it a year and ahalf. Just how sentimental can it be.

[Xeon]

paraphenalia is legal in uk... i cant believe it isnt legal in USA. What if you wanted it for legal tabaco?

truth is police in uk will take anything they want if its in anyway connected with illicit activity.

[Milk man]

Originally Posted by Xeon

paraphenalia is legal in uk... i cant believe it isnt legal in USA. What if you wanted it for legal tabaco?

truth is police in uk will take anything they want if its in anyway connected with illicit activity.

While the law varies from state to state, many pipes and grinders and bongs are legal...until they have marijuana/drug residue on them.

[enquirewithin]

so my question is (on behalf of d) is it a reasonable response for d to pay a visit to the police station later to go enquire about this grinder, why it was taken, where it is now, why it wasnt mentioned on the forms, and more importantly: can he have it back.

Who would want to go back there for a grinder?

[gardis]

ya swim purchased a grinder a couple months ago in the us they are not illegal there sold as tobacco products. they are illegal once they are being used for illegal drugs though i guess. they got swiy in a shit situation though, probably one of the benefits of being a cop is knowing u can steal shit from kids that's related to drugs and know they wont pursue them. that is definitely proven in this thread from all the people posting its just a grinder lol. personally i would try to get it even if swiy knows theres no way to get it back at least annoy the piss outa the porkys. =)

[ADVOR]

I've seen someone get charged with "possession of marijuana paraphenalia" for the plastic baggie the weed was in. So yes, if there was any residue in the grinder, it's "paraphenalia" and subject to evidence.

[Sunshine-Band]

Never mind any residue, you were busted already. You can write and ask them for it back, say its used for making you own herbal infusions from dried plants. They probably have it listed for destruction, but say you intend to appeal any decision like that and thus it must be preserved pending the result.