[Sativa]

A Cape doctor who says he directs a Plymouth drug treatment facility was in court yesterday after police seized what they said was $7,000 worth of marijuana plants and a large hydroponic growing apparatus from his home in town this week.

Dr. Alfredo Gonzalez, of Chambers Hill Road, pleaded not guilty in Falmouth District Court yesterday to marijuana possession, marijuana distribution, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He was released on his own recognizance after surrendering his passport.

Gonzalez, who practices at Bourne Internal Medicine at 1 Trowbridge Road in Bourne, had apparently tired of getting "ripped off" by drug dealers and decided to start growing his own, according to court documents.

Police were on the hunt for a prowler in Gonzalez's house Wednesday morning after his burglar alarm went off while he was out. Instead, Falmouth police Officer Robert Curtis discovered in the basement a large white metal container emanating glimmers of light and a faint smell of marijuana despite the plug-in air freshener nearby. Through a fan in the back of the unit, police spotted what appeared to be telltale leaves of marijuana plants inside the box.

Besides the seven plants, police also confiscated nearly four dozen items Gonzalez may have used for growing and inhaling marijuana, according to court documents. The items included the white metal $4,000 hydroponic "BloomBox" he had ordered over the Internet, special lights, plant food, odor neutralizers and pruning shears. Gonzalez gave police permission to search his car and house, where the grow box was situated near a children's play area in the basement, court papers say.

Also seized were Tupperware containers with inhaling devices for Gonzalez's apparent preferred method of using marijuana. He inhales it through his nostrils with a "vaporizer," according to court documents, because it prevents him from taking in harmful chemicals. He also told police he does not use any other drugs or drink alcohol. His wife, a dentist in Sandwich, did not participate in growing the plants, he told police.

Gonzalez also allegedly told police he believes marijuana should not be classified as a drug and that he has been trying to help legalize it. He knew the risk to his medical license should he be caught with the marijuana, he allegedly said.

Gonzalez also told police that he is the medical director at High Point Treatment Center in Plymouth, which provides substance abuse and mental health services.

Phone calls to a spokeswoman from High Point and to Gonzalez's defense attorney, Richard Russell, were not returned yesterday. A spokeswoman from Bourne Internal Medicine did not return calls to answer questions about the number of Gonzalez's patients, whether his practice would be put on hold pending the outcome of his criminal case or where his patients might go for information.

Neighbors described Gonzalez as a quiet, kind man. "They're wonderful people. They're good people," said Margaret Parker, who said she and her husband, George Kall, lived behind Gonzalez and didn't believe the upsetting allegations.

Parker had been inside the house to watch over Gonzalez's toddler son, Parker said, and never saw anything suspicious.

Neighbors also said they never saw many people coming and going from the home. Police often associate heavy traffic with drug sales.

Gonzalez graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1996, according to electronic records from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. He interned and did his residency at Berkshire Medical Center and has had no criminal convictions, incidents of hospital discipline, malpractice payments, or board disciplinary actions in the state in the past 10 years, the records state.

Gonzalez is due in court for a pretrial hearing Oct. 12.


News Mod: CoZmO - http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA)
Author: Hilary Russ
Contact: hruss@capecodonline.com
Copyright: 2007 Ottaway Newspapers, Inc.
Website: CapeCodTimes.com