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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US CA: Medical Pot Posing Dilemma For Officers
ccguide Sunday 17 Mar 2002 Pubdate: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 Source: Modesto Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 2002 The Modesto Bee Contact: Website: http://www.modbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/271 Author: Ty Phillips, Bee Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL POT POSING DILEMMA FOR OFFICERS It would have been an easy decision many years ago. Last July, Modesto police reported the discovery of about 150 marijuana plants growing in a man's garage and back yard. They arrested him and sent the case to the Stanislaus County district attorney's office. The district attorney's office rejected it a few weeks later. Now it is being re-examined at the request of Modesto police, but prosecutors still have made no decision. Why? The main reason is Proposition 215, the 1996 statute that legalized medical marijuana. Since then, it has become increasingly difficult for prosecutors to convince juries to convict medical marijuana cases. "We look at each case individually," Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley said. "But if we're convinced a jury wouldn't convict, we may decide not to prosecute. What they have to have is a legitimate purpose for the use of the marijuana that is recognized under the law." One case that particularly frustrated local prosecutors began in July 2000. Police arrested Barbara Varley of Modesto on charges of marijuana cultivation after police found her growing 300 marijuana plants, Shipley said. Varley used a medical marijuana defense. A Superior Court judge eventually declared a mistrial when a jury could not return with a verdict, Shipley said. Seven of the 12 jurors favored a conviction. That is how most every medical marijuana case in Stanislaus County has ended during the past five years. The exception came Dec. 7 when a jury convicted Kip Charles Dali of Modesto on charges of possessing marijuana for sale. Last March, police found Dali sitting in his car with about 1 pound of marijuana in two small plastic bags, Shipley said. He also had scales used to weigh the drug as well as a membership card to an Oakland cannabis club. Dali was sentenced to 120 days in jail -- county prosecutors' first win against a medical marijuana defense to date, Shipley said. "There are citizens in Stanislaus County who would find it difficult to vote guilty in marijuana cases," she said. "That's one of the obstacles we're trying to overcome." The problem facing law enforcement and prosecutors is that the medical marijuana law's wording is extremely vague. It calls for a note from a physician who has recommended the drug to treat cancer, chronic pain, spasticity, arthritis or other illness for which marijuana provides relief. Since those other illnesses are not defined, theoretically any ailment could qualify. Also, the law allows possession and cultivation of plants for medical use. But it does not specify how many plants or how much marijuana is allowable. Gray Area For Authorities "This is definitely murky water," said Sgt. Dave Van Diemen, a supervisor with the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency. "It's confusing for the cop on the street, the dope cop, it's confusing for everybody, really. It varies from county to county. We haven't even gotten a definitive answer from the attorney general's office." The problem has drug units everywhere sticking more to the pursuit of drugs like methamphetamine, crack cocaine and heroin -- cases that rarely find sympathetic juries. "We don't look at marijuana the way we used to," said officer Craig Gundlach of the Modesto Narcotic Enforcement Team. "When I used to come across a cultivation, I'd look at it as a good case. Now there's just so much gray area involved. Everybody's got a (doctor's) note." The case involving Kenneth Beams, 43, of Modesto is a good example. He was the man arrested last July on charges of growing about 150 marijuana plants at his home. The collection included 44 plants from 4 to 6 feet tall and approximately 100 inch-high seedlings. It was the second time that Beams had been arrested for growing marijuana. Beams, who said he suffers from a multitude of ailments including chronic knee and neck problems, said he had so many plants because he did not know how to properly grow them and that many of them died regularly. Sgt. Tim David, supervisor of the Modesto Narcotic Enforcement Team, agreed that the plants were in very poor condition. Beams, who had a marijuana recommendation note from a Modesto doctor, claimed that he smoked 2 ounces a week, or about 6 pounds a year. David estimated that Beams' mature plants could produce about 25 pounds a year. "This all falls back on the fact that he had 150 plants," David said. "There's no need to be growing all these plants. That's way more than personal use." Shipley said the district attorney's office expects to make a decision on the case in the coming weeks. Stanislaus County Not Alone Stanislaus is hardly the only county wrestling with the medical marijuana issue. Mendocino County District Attorney Norm Vroman has said medical marijuana users are allowed to grow 25 marijuana plants, flowering or immature, and still be within the legal limit. Mendocino and other counties have set varying limits. Last April, a Sonoma County jury found two men innocent of cultivation and possession charges after police arrested them for growing 899 marijuana plants. The men claimed that they were growing the plants for a San Francisco medical marijuana club. In August, a San Joaquin County judge ordered the Manteca Police Department to return property that included 174 marijuana plants and five pounds of the drug to David Willson, who said he used marijuana to treat severe headaches and anxiety. Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden said his officers are in limbo regarding marijuana cases. He has asked the district attorney's office to set guidelines regarding how many plants and how much of the drug can qualify as medical marijuana. "It puts us in a very difficult position," Wasden said. "On the front end, officers don't know what amount can legally be possessed for medical purposes. "On the back end, if it's found to be medical marijuana, what is the expectation of the Police Department? You could easily have a situation where a state court tells us to return the marijuana, yet federal law tells us it is illegal to distribute the drug." - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel
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