Former Milford man has medical marijuana prescription, but cops say he’s running drug factory

Marijuana plant. (AP file photo/Ted S. Warren) Marijuana plant. (AP file photo/Ted S. Warren) Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Former Milford man has medical marijuana prescription, but cops say he’s running drug factory 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> A former Milford man will appear in court Wednesday on a felony count of operating a drug factory and other drug charges, but he claims he has amnesty because he is a medical marijuana patient.

Timothy Yankee, 32, formerly of Field Court, was arrested Sept. 24 on the drug factory charge, as well as charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. The last charge is a misdemeanor; the rest are felonies.

The charges were filed as the result of police responding to a domestic disturbance July 20.

The state’s medical marijuana dispensaries began selling product on Sept. 23, but state Consumer Protection Commissioner William Rubenstein and Michael Lawlor, the governor’s adviser on criminal justice policy, said possession of a one-month supply of marijuana by a registered medical marijuana patient has been legal since the law went into effect in 2012, whatever the source.

Rubenstein said a one-month supply is defined as 2½ ounces. “The design of the statute was to start registering qualified patients to give them immunity,” he said Tuesday.

The arrest warrant affidavit states Yankee had “22 potted marijuana plants” and three “prescription bottles filled with extracted THC capsules,” a box of “marijuana residue,” a “mason jar with 19.5 grams of marijuana” and a “plastic bag with 7 grams of marijuana,” among other related items. There are slightly more than 28 grams in an ounce.

“The laws are actually set so I don’t have this kind of situation,” Yankee said Tuesday. He claims he had less than a month’s supply when he was arrested. “If you take everything into account, it was all under my legal limit,” he said.

Both he and his wife, from whom he’s now separated, are registered with the state program, Yankee said. His wife has epilepsy; he has post-traumatic stress disorder since he was “stomped by some kids” and “left for dead” in 2004.

“I wasn’t able to work for six months. … I lost everything I had,” Yankee said.

Yankee said he moved to New Haven because he is paranoid about living in Milford. “I haven’t been able to go back to Milford after the incident. … I thought people were after me,” he said.

He also claims that police entered his house illegally and “were making really disgraceful comments” because of his disability.

Now, Yankee said, he is not using marijuana because he can’t afford to buy it at the dispensaries, where he says it costs $18.50 a gram for ground-up plants and $75 a gram for tincture.

“What person in their right mind could afford that?” he asked. He said he needs the drug to think clearly. “It helps me concentrate. It helps me think more clearly. I’m a mess, man,” Yankee said.