Eleni Polinski was a rising pot star in New York. Even Carmelo Anthony said he loved her stuff. Then a stunning police raid upended everything and shattered her family. Rosalind Adams draws on a wealth of surveillance footage, electronic communications, and other materials to tell a story that highlights “how razor thin the margin can be between whether a person in the cannabis industry is celebrated as an entrepreneur or charged as a criminal”:
The raid began with an anonymous complaint about a loud argument that triggered an hours-long police response and drew at least 10 vehicles to the home at its height. First, cops checked for evidence of a possible fight, then the fire department searched for explosives, and finally emergency support teams were called in after cops reported an alleged firearm.
They never discovered signs of a conflict, a gun or anything hazardous.
They did find a lot of plants. In the home were dozens of unique strains the pair had developed — from seeds or cuttings collected from skilled cannabis breeders around the country. The genetics were invaluable to their brand and impossible to replicate.
A firefighter surveying the home that night quietly told a colleague: “Somebody ratted someone out.”
More picks about marijuana
The Service
“A post-mortem on New York City’s weed underground.”
The Last Great Weed Smuggler
“Before the cartels took over, Harvey Prager built a life on millions of dollars of drug money. One prosecutor called Prager ‘the last of the great amateurs.’ This is his story.”
Purple Haze
“Cannabis returns to Kathmandu.”
