Fired Cop Says He Ate Pot-Spiked Meatballs

(CBS/AP)  A counterterrorism detective who says his failed drug test came because his wife had spiked his meatballs with marijuana has filed a lawsuit to get his job back.

Anthony Chiofalo asked the court to declare that his firing in August from the New York Police Department was unreasonable and unconstitutional, to declare that a damning hair sample was improperly taken and to order his rehiring with back pay plus interest, seniority and all benefits.

Chiofalo, a 22-year veteran assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was suspended without pay in November 2005 after a random drug test found marijuana in his system. He denied using drugs and demanded a hearing.

During an investigation, Chiofalo's wife, Catherine Chiofalo, said she secretly put enough marijuana for about six cigarettes in her meatball recipe in July 2005, hoping a failed blood test would force him to retire, court papers say.

She said she'd been upset with him for not retiring after serving 20 years, as he originally said he would, according to the New York Post.

Catherine Chiofalo, according to court papers, testified at the hearing that she "just wanted my husband not to die of a heart attack or get killed. I wanted him to be around to help raise my son."

The couple later took and passed lie-detector tests about how the marijuana was ingested, Anthony Chiofalo's court papers say.

Chiofalo says his wife had marijuana at home because she used it to relieve nausea caused by medications she took for back pain. He said he did not know where she got it.

An administrative judge recommended that Chiofalo be reinstated. But police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who has the last word on firings, rejected the recommendation and fired Chiofalo.

A police department spokesman, John Kelly, said in an e-mailed comment on Chiofalo's firing, "The officer's excuse was not credible."

[honestabe8]

keiler: it all depends on your other habits. i am a regular user, but also eat healthy and am a cardio nut. some folks i know don''t use at all and don''t exercise. even though i am older than them, i am in way better shape. on the other hand, i am not recommending it for fitness. same as alcohol, but way less poisonous

[keiler1]

I know people who smoke it on a regular basis and they are in better health than most.....

[gunownerdan]

To best fight crime and violence, cops say legalize marijuana.
www.leap.cc
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

The first step though is not to legalize it, but to decriminalize it. Which has been done in several states. On the other hand, some states put it right up there with Crak and Meth....

[honestabe8]

mitch: somehow, there seems to be an idea that having a beer is somehow more moral than smoking a joint. the big opposition to legalization are republicans (please don''t attack me, folks) and religious folk. our elected officials are testicularly challenged crooks. the drug czar''s office (ONDCP)is nothing but a sewer of misinformation. this is the same whether the drug punk is a democrat or a republican. some years ago, ron paul asked the General Accounting Office to see if the ONDCP violated federal law by intentionally putting out misinformation. the GAO did their review and determined that the point of the ONDCP is to oppose lessening the federal law on controlled substances (kind of a misnomer, as prohibition means that the substances are not at all controlled). whether they are lying is irrelevant. thus, the drug punk''s office are free to come up with as many outrageous lies as possible (pot causes you to kill people, funds terrorism, etc). i sincerely hope there is a drunk driver with john p. walters name on his car.

Excuse my double post....I double clicked instead of single click....."remember, pass it to the left..."

[honestabe8]

manguskan: the feds don''t care. they have their empire to maintain (or increase), the assets to seize, the sucking up to the legal pushers. time to take the power back via voting. the last thing The Partnership For A Drug Free America wants is a drug free america.

Oh honestabe8, it was mainly a joke. It lead to the worst times of our country''s short life. Crime rate was through the roof and so on and so on. Was basically a statement of a choice....would rather see the other two outlawed and pot being legalized. As long as there is a Bible Belt (which I live in) and old farts running things, it will never be legalized. Tell you what, if people would get out of their head about the scare tactics they had in the earlier years when everyone thought pot was a terrible drug, I think it would help. What was the name of that movie they had from the late 30''s? Refer Madness? I think it was that movie that messed things up. Plus the 60''s hippie movement didn''t help much either. These I believe are the cause of all the pot heads problems getting it legalized.

[rangerdahl]

you are what you eat.

[manguskan-2009]

I can''t imagine the amount of money California is making off of Prop 215A. I hope it helps the gov. w/ his states debt problem. Too bad the feds won''t allow other states to reap the benefits.