# Dumbass Cops Mistake Okra Plants For Marijuana **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653 "2014-10-07T14:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/1 "2014-10-07T14:25:21Z")
[These guys live in Georgia and they don’t know what okra looks like?](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/okra-mistaken-pot-mans-garden/nhbHW/) > [@](#): > > A Cartersville man is upset after he said investigators mistook a garden full of okra for marijuana plants. > > The man growing the popular Southern food said a helicopter woke him up Wednesday and then he had deputies show up at his door. > > "I was scared actually, at first, because I didn’t know what was happening,” said homeowner Dwayne Perry… The best part: > [@](#): > > Channel 2’s Carl Willis called the Georgia State Patrol, who operates the task force, for an explanation. They sent an evidence photo. > > "We’ve not been able to identify it as of yet. But it did have quite a number of characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant,” said Georgia State Patrol Capt. Kermit Stokes. These guys are still trying to identify one of the most commonly cultivated plants in the area? What, did they get confused by all those “characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant” (i.e. it was green and had leaves)? I’d make a snide comparison to Barney Fife, but I’m pretty sure he knew what okra looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/2 "2014-10-07T14:35:38Z")
The mistake is funny, but it’s also distressingly common. And he’s absolutely right about this: > [@](#): > > "The more I thought about it, what could have happened? Anything could have happened,” Perry said. [This could’ve happened.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/06/meet-59-year-old-david-hooks-the-latest-drug-raid-fatality/) Perry is lucky he escaped with his life. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/3 "2014-10-07T14:35:54Z")
I think the best explanation is that the cops had just eaten some good ol southern fried cannabis at the local Po Folks. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/4 "2014-10-07T14:51:02Z")
Other cases I’ve heard about involve the fact that marijuana looks and smells exactly like basil, and sometimes sprouts tomatoes. He’s lucky they didn’t seize his farm as a civil forfeiture. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/5 "2014-10-07T15:17:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Other cases I’ve heard about involve the fact that marijuana looks and smells exactly like basil, No [way.](https://www.google.com/search?q=basil&client=firefox-a&hs=FLY&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=7QM0VIrJLo60yAT9rYLYDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=635) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/6 "2014-10-07T15:19:51Z")
Wait until someone discovers you can get high from smoking kudzu. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/7 "2014-10-07T16:08:21Z")
Frankly, I’d rather see people prosecuted for possession and/or distribution of okra than marijuana. That shit is evil. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/8 "2014-10-07T16:21:38Z")
Anyone ever have “pot gumbo”? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/9 "2014-10-07T17:12:23Z")
If you eat enough nutmeg you can get a crappy psychoactive high. Ban that filth. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/10 "2014-10-07T17:33:48Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Frankly, I’d rather see people prosecuted for possession and/or distribution of okra than marijuana. That shit is evil. I’d agree except that you can’t make a decent gumbo without it. Fried or whatever, on a plate… hanging offense. But yeah, this is the kind of situation that involves someone shooting first and no point in asking questions of the corpse(s) later. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/11 "2014-10-07T18:15:50Z")
I am lucky then that I haven’t been busted for my okra patch. Really, it’s amazingly similar - it has deeply divided leaves, grows tall, and… Nope, you’d have to be an idiot to mistake okra for pot. In fact, those officers should’ve had their Southern citizenship revoked for making such an error. It’s this sort of confusion that makes me [wary](http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/08/04/cops-make-major-hibiscus-bust) of growing [Texas star hibiscus](http://www.starhawk.net/archives/000992.html) in a conspicuous location out by my mailbox. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/12 "2014-10-07T18:17:00Z")
I recall someone here once talking about getting a high from Salvia? The part that really stuck with me is how they described the rather crappy and unpleasant high. It was something like the following: If getting high from some weed is like good sex, getting high from salvia is like being molested by your creepy Uncle down in the basement. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/13 "2014-10-09T14:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > "We’ve not been able to identify it as of yet. But it did have quite a number of characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant,” said Georgia State Patrol Capt. Kermit Stokes. As our friend Kermit says, it’s not easy being green. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/14 "2014-10-09T21:57:44Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I recall someone here once talking about getting a high from Salvia? > > The part that really stuck with me is how they described the rather crappy and unpleasant high. It was something like the following: > > If getting high from some weed is like good sex, getting high from salvia is like being molested by your creepy Uncle down in the basement. 😉 Check out the youtube videos, search “salvia”. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbass-cops-mistake-okra-plants-for-marijuana/700653/15 "2014-10-10T03:41:50Z")
When I was in high school, there was a group of kids a couple of grades below me who were busted for smoking pot at school. Further investigation revealed that the “pot” was, in fact, oregano.