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US CO: Feds Back Down in Medical Pot Case
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1217/a05.html
Newshawk: http://wwwcannabisnews.com/
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Aug 2004
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2004, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact: letters@rockymountainnews.com
Website: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
http://www.norml.org
Related: Ailing Man To Feds: Give Back My Pot
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1101/a04.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)
FEDS BACK DOWN IN MEDICAL POT CASE
Marijuana-Growing Supplies to Be Given Back to Aurora Man.
An Aurora man suffering from chronic pain won a major victory Thursday when
the federal government agreed to return all of his marijuana-growing
equipment.
The assistant U.S. attorney also told the lawyer for medical-marijuana user
Dana May that they will not prosecute May for any crime. But the pot that
the Drug Enforcement Administration and Aurora police seized from May's
Aurora home will stay in the possession of federal authorities.
Supporters of medical marijuana said they believe it marks the first time
that the U.S. attorney has agreed to return growing equipment to someone
who has been cleared of wrongdoing.
"This case is precedent-setting and a very sympathetic case and just a
terrible example of the federal government not recognizing that this is
where the state of the law is going and where patients are going," Allen St.
Pierre, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said.
May and his lawyer, Robert J. Corry Jr., will appear at a hearing this
morning in Arapahoe County District Court where they will tell the judge
that they will drop their civil lawsuit against the Aurora Police Department
demanding that it return May's marijuana-producing equipment.
May, 45, said he had feared a long, drawn-out fight with the U.S.
attorney's office and the DEA.
"I just about fell off my chair when my lawyer told me," he said. "I
thought he was joking. He said, 'We got a victory here,' and 'They're going
to give you your stuff back.' "
After today's hearing, May said he plans to notify the DEA that he will pick
up his equipment within 48 hours. Agents had confiscated 31 pieces of
equipment from May's home, including transformers, water pumps, cloning
machines and exhaust fans that he used to grow marijuana.
He called it a bittersweet victory and complained that anti-drug personnel
should spend their resources and time pursuing cocaine and heroin
traffickers. "They would be better off going that route rather than going
after little pot growers like me," May said.
May said he will try to resume growing marijuana as soon as possible at an
undisclosed location.
"I think this is a big step because with the DEA giving my equipment back
they know what I'm going to do with it, and it's like they're condoning it,"
he said. "There aren't any options about what I'm going to do with it. I'm
not going to grow tomatoes."
Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the District of Colorado U.S. attorney,
said federal prosecutors decided not to pursue a civil forfeiture case
against May after concluding that his equipment had minimal value.
May's doctor signed the legal forms required for May to grow and smoke pot
in 2002. May suffers from chronic pain in his legs and feet as a result of
a 1995 accident.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake
***********************
Mark
Sign on my front door
___________________________
Notice posted.
This is not a peanut free zone!
The use of adult beverages, tobacco products, sugar,
salt, caffeine, high fat foods and firearms (when necessary)
is encouraged on these premises.
Jack-booted government thugs without warrants
will be shot upon entry.
Have a nice day :-)
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