cannabisnews.com: Whose Marijuana is It?





Whose Marijuana is It?
Posted by CN Staff on May 08, 2002 at 10:13:56 PT
Editorial
Source: Sacramento Bee
Yuba County law enforcement officials were convinced the Satterfield family possessed something illegally. That something was confiscated. But a judge ruled that the couple had broken no state law and ordered the sheriff to return this something. Sheriff Virginia Black for a while refused, risking the prospect of being held in contempt of court. Why?This something, of course, is marijuana. Belinda Satterfield has breast cancer, and smokes marijuana to combat nausea from chemotherapy. Doyle Satterfield says he smokes pot because of his insomnia and arthritis. 
Following the rules under a state law (passed by voters in 1996, via Proposition 215), the Satterfields got a letter from a doctor authorizing this use. The Satterfields decided to grow their own.Their venture into agriculture eventually caught the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, which last summer confiscated the couple's 37 plants. They were charged under state law with illegal possession of pot. But the charges were later dropped after they showed the paperwork from the doctor. Superior Court Judge James Curry then ruled that the couple should get the pot back. But the sheriff for several days said no.It seemed like the sheriff was trying to make a reasonable point here in an irresponsible way. Yes, marijuana is illegal under federal law for any use, medicinal or recreational. Yes, it goes against local law enforcement's grain to return to a citizen a substance that under federal law is banned.But defy a court order? Curry had to interpret a muddy set of state laws about marijuana. The ruling, disagree with it or not, falls within the boundaries of the Proposition 215. In the eyes of the state, the Satterfields are law-abiding citizens.Black eventually made the right call and gave the marijuana back to the Satterfields. If the feds in their war on drugs wish to go after the couple, they shouldn't have much trouble finding out where they live.Note: Sheriff was right to surrender patients' pot.Newshawk: mpSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMarijuana Trial: Medicine or Not?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12676.shtmlJudge Returns Satterfields' Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12764.shtmlSheriff Gives Marijuana To The Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12726.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on May 08, 2002 at 12:14:46 PT
Law-abiding citizens
Who was minding their own buisness? Sheriff Black was sticking her nose into somebody else's business, and learned a hard lesson. The difficulty of learning that lesson when you think you can operate above the law, and find out you are outside the law is hard to figure.
She was trying to hide behind the skirt of Mother DEA. What amazes me is that the DEA did not raid the courtroom when the Satterfield's had their cannabis returned under court order.DEA agents could have dynamited the couthouse doors, and confiscated the plants and 'dried material'. The judge and law-abiding citizens be damned. Attila-the-DEA agent is scratching his head over this one. It is hard for him to imagine he would be breaking the law. 
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 08, 2002 at 10:47:10 PT:
Get it straight: Black was FORCED to return it
...under threat of jail. Which you have to wonder how many people have been arrested by Sheriff Black and suffered in her jail for lack of cannabis? Black made brave noises, no doubt looking for Freddy The Fed to step in and give her an umbrella for the coming legal p*ssing match she was trying to initiate. They may even have promised her something if she 'cooperated' with them in obstructing California law.But a similar case, which had the asinine Sheriff of another county try to end run the State order to return stolen cannabis by giving it to Feds blew up in his face (the magistrates the Feds went to to get the seizure warrant signed refused to do so) the writing was on the wall. If Sheriff Black had been paying more attention, she would have known about the pointlessness of her position.But swine rarely learn from their mistakes without some degree of pain applied along with the lesson. Now it falls to the constituents of Yuba County to let her know in no uncertain terms that if she doesn't apologize, her job is on the chopping block. And there are lots of pissed-off MMJ patients and civil libertarians with enough strength to pull a voting lever to punctuate that lesson.
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