cannabisnews.com: Prosecutors Weigh Options In Medical Pot Cases





Prosecutors Weigh Options In Medical Pot Cases
Posted by CN Staff on October 06, 2003 at 06:55:05 PT
By Robert Airoldi, Staff Writer
Source: Oakland Tribune 
A grower's permit allows the owner to cultivate and use marijuana for medical purposes. But how much marijuana is too much marijuana? Is it 21 plants? Is it 79? And if the permit owner isn't using all of what he or she has been cultivating, what is being done with the rest? Those questions are at the heart of two cases involving Tri-City men, including one who was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to sell.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office is considering filing charges against Robert Filgo, 41, of Fremont, after police seized about 79 marijuana plants in a raid last month at his Niles home. Filgo, who was cited and ordered to return to court by Oct. 1, showed up as required Wednesday, but he was told no charges had been filed -- at least not yet. The District Attorney's Office at the Fremont Hall of Justice sent the case back to Fremont police for further investigation, Assistant District Attorney Richard Klemmer said. If Klemmer elects to file charges, a warrant will be issued for Filgo's arrest. Police shot and killed Filgo's dog and confiscated two computers during the Sept. 2 raid, and officers also confiscated his marijuana plants -- despite the fact he has a grower's permit. Filgo has a prescription from a doctor to use marijuana for a variety of ailments and a grower's permit issued by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. Filgo remains in legal limbo, uncomfortably waiting for a decision and his property. "I have this fear that all of a sudden they're going to come storm-trooping down my driveway late at night," he said. "I just want to get on with my life." In a similar incident Sept. 25, Newark police raided the home of a 41-year-old man and seized 21 plants -- the majority 6 to 8 feet tall, police said -- even though the man had a grower's permit posted. Police are not releasing the man's name. The Newark man was not arrested, but his case was forwarded to the District Attorney's Office seeking a complaint for cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale, Newark police Lt. Tom Milner said. As with the Fremont case, the District Attorney's Office sent the Newark case back to police for further investigation. When Proposition 215 passed in 1996 -- with 55.7 percent of the vote -- it allowed Californians with permission to grow, possess and use marijuana for medical purposes. But the statute does not authorize people to possess the drug for the purpose of selling. "If he's distributing and we can prove it, we'll charge him," Klemmer said several days after Filgo's plants were seized. "Or if he is in possession of an amount clearly above what is medically viable, then he's going to get prosecuted." Police will continue to investigate similar cases and confiscate any plants they find, Fremont Detective Bill Veteran said, even if the grower has a permit. "We're going to go out and enforce the laws," Veteran said. It then would be up to prosecutors to determine who is breaking the law and who legitimately needs to smoke marijuana for medical purposes. Klemmer said he would have no reason to prosecute an elderly woman with cancer who grows one plant and smokes occasionally. But what tends to happen, Klemmer said, is that a dealer gets a permit, then sets up a growing operation -- with large lights and packaging materials -- and begins distributing the drug. "Some people see a little opening and try to drive a truck through the hole," Klemmer said of the law. While a grower's permit doesn't bar prosecution, said Jeff Jones, executive director of the Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, it can be used as a defense. A grower tried and found not guilty "can sue for false arrest or for any type of misconduct," he said. Complete Title: Prosecutors Weigh Options In Possible Medical Pot CasesSource: Oakland Tribune (CA)Author: Robert Airoldi, Staff WriterPublished: Monday, October 06, 2003Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: triblet angnewspapers.com Website: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:OCBChttp://www.rxcbc.org/Medical Pot Has Council in Dithershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17424.shtmlCommittee To Study Oaksterdam Idea http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17388.shtml Fremont Man Claims Right To Grow Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17234.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by E_Johnson on October 06, 2003 at 16:50:34 PT
Gray Davis is the reason this dog got shot
If Gray Davis had made a solid commitment to enforcing Prop 215 in a safe sane and sensible manner, then we wouldn't be going through this heartache and stress right now.It's his fault that this dog was shot. He's pandered to the CNOA and let them have their way on everything he could.These narcotics officers run around raiding patients and shooting dogs thinking they have the Governor's blessing.And for the most part they're right.
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Comment #8 posted by Virgil on October 06, 2003 at 16:41:14 PT
The interesting thing about California
Gray Davis carriage has been pulled by his excessive funding of the largest prison system in the country. Because he has not made the sensible effort to release people there for crimes that have no victims in the face of a recall, I would now vote on question one to remove him from office. I mean when someone says they are going to hit you in the face, you should at least put up your hands. I was against the recall which will be the first question, but now that this guy is too stupid to do the obvious, he needs to be shown the door. Then you have the NRA factor- Never Re-elect Anyone.They laid 30,000 teachers off in a state that already spent more on prisons than schools. Just how upsidedown can you get in your thinking.I really wanted to put up this link where Washington State is talking of suspending the primary elections where the real reason is they do not want to stir up debate, yet they lie and somehow can not justify the cost as the prisons are crowded with prisoners taken in the War of Insanity and the courts are crowded with the trumped up charges- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2001758351_primary04m.html
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 06, 2003 at 15:03:42 PT
Virgil
I want to mention that I don't think Arnold is what California needs but I don't think anyone stands a chance because he will more then likely win. That's what the polls seem to be saying. I just hope he stands by what he said about Medical Marijuana. I don't know who would make a good Governor of California. I really don't have any idea. I know California is a very important state and a republican as Governor makes me very nervous.
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Comment #6 posted by Virgil on October 06, 2003 at 14:26:59 PT
Arnold and the energy industry showcase corruption
There is one journalist that stands above all others in my favorites. I suggest those that have not read about the way the election was really stolen read Greg Palast at http://www.gregpalast.comHis article released today http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=284&row=0 tells of the link of Arnold to Kenny Boy and big energy and an underlying motive for removing Davis from office to start with. Anyone with a developed cannabis perspective knows how corruption and cancer need a merger word to express how far America has fallen from its ideals. Anyway this article says Arnold is out to save the energy industry $9 billion in reimbursement that the feds let the energy companies keep with their pennies on the dollar settlement in their illegalities that profited them billions. 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 06, 2003 at 14:11:41 PT
john wayne 
You're welcome. I wonder how Arnold will be if he becomes Governor?  He said he is for Medical Marijuana. Maybe much of California's Medical Marijuana problems might be over soon! We sure can hope!
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Comment #4 posted by john wayne on October 06, 2003 at 13:58:35 PT
thanks FoM,
I was just about to post that Oaksterdam article myself; you're right on top of it.Most Oaklanders support the clubs
This following passage says
it best. From blight to delight.> "Until the dispensaries opened, the street was shut down, quiet and dirty," he said. "The dispensaries are the best thing that could have happened for the area." He is expecting the number of dispensaries and other businesses in the association to double in the next week. (end quote)The struggle continues, but this is a declaration of what's obvious to everyone but the crypto-religio fasciscti who cannot bear the thought of the bloodthirsty police's game being reduced.  Jerry "Military Police State" Brown, are you listening?
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on October 06, 2003 at 11:03:27 PT
Klemmer's contact info
Tell this man that an elderly lady with chemo is going to need to smoke pot every day, not just occasionally, because chemo makes people sick every day, not just occasionally.Fremont-Newark-Union City BranchMailing address: Fremont Courthouse, 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont, CA 94538Phone: (510) 795-2500FAX: (510) 795-2521Branch Head: Richard Klemmer
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 06, 2003 at 10:19:10 PT
News Brief - - SFC
Businesses Unite To Support Pot Clubs By Rona Marech  Monday, October 6, 2003  As the Oakland City Council revs up to crack down on downtown medical marijuana clubs, some neighborhood merchants are fighting back. The newly formed Uptown Merchants Association -- so far comprising two pot clubs and five businesses unrelated to the dispensaries -- has banded together to lobby on behalf of the dozen dispensaries in the neighborhood. They say that regulation by the city is crucial but that the clubs should not be shut down because they bring desirable commercial activity to the blocks just north of City Hall. "We support regulation. We support standards. We support city licensing. We support taxes," spokesman Kenny Mostern said. But they also support the dispensaries' right to operate. "Until the dispensaries opened, the street was shut down, quiet and dirty," he said. "The dispensaries are the best thing that could have happened for the area." He is expecting the number of dispensaries and other businesses in the association to double in the next week. City officials have said that until recently they were unaware that the pot clubs had been sprouting up in the neighborhood that some have dubbed "Oaksterdam," after the pot-tolerant city of Amsterdam. The dispensaries are in legal limbo. Although the city and state consider them legal, the federal government does not. At a City Council meeting in late September, some council members expressed reservations about the large number of neighborhood pot clubs. Discussion of the issue was delayed for further study. The council's public safety committee will take it up again on Oct. 28. 
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Comment #1 posted by arthur on October 06, 2003 at 08:52:10 PT:
LAW
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within 
limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 
'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's 
will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." -- Thomas Jefferson 
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 
3rd US President 
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