Cab Driver Cited for Smoking Marijuana on Duty in Lyndale
Police pulled over the driver on Grand Avenue early Saturday morning.
A St. Paul cab driver was cited for possession of marijuana while driving through the Lyndale neighborhood a little after 1 a.m. Saturday morning.
Police officers were driving northbound on Grand Avenue toward 31st Street when a Blue and White cab pulled in front of them and they smelled, according to the police report, “an extremely strong odor of freshly burnt marijuana coming from the taxi.”
When they pulled over the man, a licensed Minneapolis and St. Paul cab driver, he acknowledged that he had smoked marijuana while on service. He turned over to police a wooden box full of weed and a used pipe.
Police told him he couldn’t pick up any more fares for the evening, and he was released.
Dave Timmons
10:42 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
So was he issued a citation or not? Headline says cited, body of article says scolded and released. Which is it?
At a minimum he should lose his cab drivers license.
And if they let him continue to drive under the influence, couldn't the police be liable for injuries caused if he had an accident?
This is a very disturbing article.
James Sanna
11:17 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
To clarify, he was ticketed and let go. If you're interested, here's a story we did a while back on how the county treats its drug offenders. We didn't quite get down to the level of the guy smoking a joint in his car, but it gives a flavor of the county's philosophical approach: http://southwestminneapolis.patch.com/articles/why-some-drug-crimes-don-t-lead-to-prison