Big Isle robbers steal medical marijuana

HILO » Big Island medical-marijuana user Larry Miller was in bed with a fever Monday afternoon when a man in a mask carrying a knife showed up in his yard demanding his marijuana plants and his money. Soon, three more men joined the first one.

Miller, 60, thought it was a joke.

"'What's up? Who are you?'" he said he asked the intruders. "I kept asking the same questions. I couldn't believe it."

The leader said, "We want your stash. Where's your money?"

Miller, shaking from his fever, led them into his house in the Paradise Park subdivision, south of Hilo. He gave them his wallet, and the robbers started throwing things around, apparently looking for more. They didn't break anything, he said.

His marijuana plants were visible in his garden.

"I've been pretty poor the last few years," said Miller, a musician who plays the flute. He's been living on credit cards, he said.

Miller uses his marijuana to help him deal with skin cancer, he said. His fiancee, with advanced abdominal cancer, also uses it.

Three doctors told her 10 years ago that she had only three months to live, he said. He credits marijuana with boosting her appetite and keeping her alive.

Miller has had his medical-marijuana card for three years, he said.

Miller realized when the robbers were gone that they also stole a knapsack with gold rings that had belonged to his father and grandfather. The bag also held money that he received as a cash advance from his credit card and was going to use to pay his doctor, he said.

As the robbers left, Miller asked if they were coming back. The leader answered, "I left you one (plant). This won't happen again."

Miller isn't so sure. "I've had a hard time sleeping," he said. Also, his marijuana plants and a weed cutter were stolen one night just two months ago, although he was not home that time.

The robbers were so disorganized that they took his flashlight from his car, used it to find their way around, then put it back in the wrong place, he said. They forgot to bring a bag for the marijuana so they stole a tarp from his car, he said.

Miller, who says he is healthy other than his skin cancer, has a small basketball court where he, his nephews and their friends play, he said.

"I've had a lot of kids I've helped over the years," he said.

He thinks one or more of his visitors mentioned his marijuana to others, and word got around to the wrong people.

Police asked anyone with information to call 961-2381 or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.