As reported, police arrived in late August to the home of Dzidra Bruzgule, who has been growing non-psychoactive hemp in her garden for years, and cut a total of 363 plants after telling the woman a criminal case was started against her.
The case was eventually dropped and the woman told that she'd receive her hemp back, though it is unclear whether she has and in what state the hemp is.
Nevertheless, the police have apologized and now say they will review standard procedures in cases like this and that talks are ongoing over the compensation Bruzgule would receive.
"We see that farmers are using their gardens to grow hemp more and more these days. We also see that there are more and more cases when plants containing illegal substances are discovered in the open. It is evident we have to review...the way police can do their duty without risking to cause material damage to people who grow hemp for their household needs," said State Police head Ints Ķuzis.
Valsts policija atvainojas sievietei un izvērtē kaņepju pārbaudes procedūru atbilstību: pic.twitter.com/xCFSAPKWB0
— Valsts policija (@Valsts_policija) October 22, 2018
Hemp was at one point one of Latvia's chief exports in the form of durable hemp rope. Today as well, the non-psychotropic version of cannabis is grown industrially in Latvia.
