cannabisnews.com: No Charges Filed After Marijuana Plants Seized No Charges Filed After Marijuana Plants Seized Posted by CN Staff on August 21, 2002 at 08:25:31 PT By Jason Schultz, Sentinel Staff Writer Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel An apparent miscommunication between police and a medical marijuana user last week led to seizure of the man’s pot. Scott’s Valley firefighters were putting out a fire Aug. 11 on Lucinda Drive when they spotted seven marijuana plants growing behind a shed on an adjacent property. Police were called, and they approached the property owner, 49 year-old Michael Joseph Dominguez. Dominguez has AIDS and has a prescription to smoke marijuana. The prescription is allowed under a state law that allows those with chronic illness to legally smoke marijuana to ease their pain. California and federal authorities have sparred for years over validity of the law.Dominguez said he showed the officers his prescriptions, but the officers cited him for cultivating marijuana, a possible felony, then confiscated the plants.Valerie Corral, director of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the Santa Cruz pot club that Dominguez belongs to, said her group had confirmed Dominguez’s prescription. She added that he is allowed under the state law to grow the seven plants for his own use.She said she was surprised by the police action because her group in the past has been treated well not only by Scotts Valley officers, but by officers with most every law enforcement agency in the county.Corral called new Scotts Valley Police Chief Steve Lind and explained the situation.Lind said it appears Dominguez had a legitimate prescription. He called the citation a "miscommunication" centering on the fact police initially encountered a caretaker on the property who refused to give officers any information.Lind said his department has no intention of cracking down on medical marijuana users as long as they are following the law."We don’t want to spend a lot of time on this," he said. "If they are allowed by law to have it, that is good enough for me."He said parts of the state law — including how much a person can grow and what police should do when confronted by someone who claims to have medical marijuana — are unclear, and that the state Legislature needs to go back and make the law more explicit for police.Assistant District Attorney Ton Ngo said once prosecutors verified Dominguez had a valid prescription, they decided not to pursue any charges.Dominguez said his plants had not budded and it is now too late to re-plant them and get a crop, but Corral said the cooperative would help supply him.Complete Title: No Charges Filed After Marijuana Plants Seized from AIDS Patient Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Jason Schultz, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: August 21, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on August 21, 2002 at 09:34:05 PT Unrelated Bob Barr Congressman Bob Barr from Georgia was defeated in his primary election bid. So he is out of Congress come January 2003. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on August 21, 2002 at 09:15:21 PT: A Case Study This could have gone better, but nonetheless is a study in how things can be handled reasonably on the issue. Too bad that 99.9% of other jurisdicitions would pursue this to the full extent of the misguided law.Valerie is an angel of mercy. If we had an army of people like her, the WOD's would have been over long ago. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment