{"id":8089,"date":"2018-02-21T23:23:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T23:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2960582&amp;preview_id=2960582"},"modified":"2018-02-21T23:23:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T23:23:40","slug":"colorado-marijuana-activist-arrested-in-oklahoma-for-felony-possession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-marijuana-activist-arrested-in-oklahoma-for-felony-possession\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado marijuana activist arrested in Oklahoma for felony possession"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-marijuana-activist-arrested-in-oklahoma-for-felony-possession\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Feb 21, 2018, 3:24 pm \u2022 Updated: Feb 21, 2018, 3:31 pm <span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/lbartlett\/\" rel=\"author\">Lindsey Bartlett<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A Colorado cannabis activist arrested in Oklahoma on drug charges following a traffic stop claims a state trooper targeted the vehicle she was driving because it had Colorado license plates.<\/p>\n<p>Regina Nelson, CEO of Boulder-based\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/myecstherapy.org\/\">ECS Therapy Center<\/a>, her adult son Bryan Laufenberg, and Michael E. Browning were arrested in Pittsburg County, Okla., on Sunday,\u00a0Brianna Bailey of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readfrontier.org\/stories\/marijuana-activist-faces-felony-drug-charge-in-oklahoma\/\">The Frontier<\/a>\u00a0first reported.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle Nelson was driving was pulled over by an Oklahoma State Patrol trooper for failing to use a turn signal, according to the court affidavit obtained by The Frontier. A search of the vehicle found several \u201crolled cigarettes with a green leafy substance\u201d as well as two glass pipes, a peanut butter edible; a thermos filed with low-point beer; capsules filled with green oil and a backpack containing a digital scale and multiple baggies filled with a green leafy substance. A suitcase containing three large vacuum-sealed baggies of marijuana also was found in the car, The Frontier reported.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-99674\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/colorado-marijuana-activist-arrested-in-oklahoma-for-felony-possession.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Feb. 18 photo taken by Regina Nelson of colleague Michael Browning, who was detained by Oklahoma State Patrol following a search of the vehicle Nelson was driving. (Photo provided by Regina Nelson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nelson, Laufenberg, and Browning, Nelson\u2019s colleague and co-author, each face a felony charge of possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, Nelson told The Cannabist Wednesday in a phone interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is just something that happens to people with Colorado plates,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were absolutely targeted. It was a holiday weekend. There was a number of highway patrol in the area. We didn\u2019t speed, we were minding all the traffic rules, but we were driving a rental car with Colorado plates on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nelson spoke to The Cannabis from Tulsa, where she is scheduled to speak at a Thursday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/1694357500607366\/\">event with Oklahomans for Equality<\/a> in support of State Question 788, a medical marijuana measure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/05\/oklahoma-medical-marijuana-vote-date-2018\/96092\/\">set to appear on the state\u2019s ballot in June<\/a>. She is also scheduled to speak Saturday at the Cannabis Education Advocacy Symposium &amp; Expo in Oklahoma City. Both speeches are part of Nelson\u2019s 2018 Plant a Seed for Cannabis Education World Tour.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson, Laufenberg and Browning have pleaded not guilty to the charges, Nelson said. She and Browning plan to speak about their arrest at the upcoming events in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<p>Possession with intent to distribute or sell is a felony drug crime in Oklahoma. A first offense carries a minimum of 2 years in prison to a maximum of life in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson\u2019s lawyer Brecken Wagner did not respond to a phone call from The Cannabist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m concerned about it, I am well aware we face serious consequences, I am also very aware, again, I feel this was targeted,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cFor that reason, I don\u2019t believe any of the evidence should reach the court house. We are using this as an educational platform because we have a voice. Law enforcement is very important to that effort, too. Every officer we encountered needs to know more about the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/10\/04\/marijuana-traffic-stops-license-plates-profiling\/64190\/\">Does having license plates from a cannabis-friendly state make you a highway patrol target?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&#013; &#013; <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/lbartlett\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/colorado-marijuana-activist-arrested-in-oklahoma-for-felony-possession.png\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Lindsey Bartlett is the digital strategist and social media producer at The Cannabist. A Colorado native, she has written on the marijuana beat for 5 years. Her contributions to publications include Leafly, Westword, 303 Magazine, and her photos&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regina Nelson, a marijuana scholar and activist based out of Boulder, Colorado, was arrested for marijuana possession in Oklahoma. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,6811,851,6813,77,6814,56,9,5019,225,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[2632,6816,3424,6818,2655,6819,2636,5022,2803],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}