cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Case Tests Federal Law





Medical Pot Case Tests Federal Law
Posted by CN Staff on January 12, 2004 at 07:35:51 PT
By Mike McPhee, Denver Post Staff Writer
Source: Denver Post 
Don Nord did not want to get caught up in a conflict between state and federal law over whether he can keep and use marijuana. The Hayden man, who has a state Medical Marijuana Registry card allowing him to use the drug for pain caused by his cancer and phlebitis, just wants to recover the marijuana confiscated from him by a federal agent.
But that desire has planted him squarely in the middle of the tussle between federal and state officials. Although Colorado law allows the use of marijuana by authorized patients, federal law still forbids it. The dispute has been fought in courts from California to Washington, D.C., but has yet to be resolved.Now, what started for Nord as possession of a few bucks' worth of dope has developed into a lesson in federalism. And his situation casts a spotlight on how the national debate over medical marijuana affects individuals, some of them poor and most in pain.Nord's saga began Oct. 14. That's when nine members of the Grand, Routt and Moffatt County drug task force - one federal agent and eight local law enforcement officers - raided his tiny apartment, armed with a search warrant from Routt County Judge James Garrecht. They took three marijuana plants, 5 ounces of loose marijuana, a smoking pipe, some growing equipment and even Nord's registry ID card.After Nord's attorney sent Garrecht a copy of the ID card, the judge in November ordered that everything taken, including the legal limit of 2 ounces of loose marijuana, be returned to Nord by Dec. 29. Nord was never charged with a crime.The task force returned nearly everything two days before Christmas - everything but the 2 ounces of marijuana. The federal agent who took it from Nord says the stuff is illegal contraband, according to federal law, and that he doesn't have to return it.On Dec. 30, Kristopher Hammond, Nord's attorney, filed a motion for contempt against the federal agent, Doug Cortinovis of the Drug Enforcement Administration, "for failing to follow the Colorado Constitution and a judge's orders." On Feb. 2, Cortinovis is headed to court to show why he shouldn't be held in contempt - of state court, that is. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/testslaw.htmSource: Denver Post (CO)Author: Mike McPhee, Denver Post Staff WriterPublished: Monday, January 12, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.com Related Articles:Fines, Jail Possible for Police http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18118.shtml9 Officers Cited for Contempt in Pot Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18109.shtmlDEA Should Give Back Patient's Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18085.shtmlMarijuana Fight Continues http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18070.shtml
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Comment #18 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 14:49:08 PT
E_J I know
I wasn't disagreeing with you, just saying that white people don't get a free pass. I am sorry if I didn't communicate that point clearly. However I do think that white college kids with a certain look are profiled in much the same way for a stop and search that black males are. If a cop sees a white dude with dread locks he immidiatly falls under a cloud of suspicion which often leads to a search and sometimes leads to an arrest. How the justice system handles the white dude (community service) is a lot different than how the injustice system would handle a black dudes case (hard time)WoD should have died with Jim Crow 
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Comment #17 posted by E_Johnson on January 12, 2004 at 13:16:58 PT
The statistics are well kown
Yippierevolutionary, look up the stats on race and drug arrests and convictions if you are curious. There's no doubt that Drug War is racially biased. It's just a plain fact that blacks are arrested and convicted disproportionately to whites. There are over 700,000 marijuana arests per year. You and your friends are a tiny teensie weensie little itty bitty drop in that bucket. The rate of marijuana use among blacks and whites is about the same, and blacks make up about 15% of the population. Yet that bucket of 700,000 is way more than 15% black.
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Comment #16 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 12:54:27 PT
Oh Yeah I forgot
I was arrested for possession too! A good all American white Eagle Scout and Alter Boy
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Comment #15 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 12:52:48 PT
If you listen to the media.......
We should be the ones who are so happy with Dean. We, the angry anti-war liberals who are just as mad at the DNC as we are at Bush. This is suppose to be our candidate!! That is if you listen to the media.PS E Johnson about your comment #10 - I have many white middle class suburban friends who have been arrested for possession. 
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 12, 2004 at 11:28:22 PT
About Dean
Dean enforces my fear of doctors. Something is seriously wrong with his thinking but what it is I'm not sure. We will have Bush for 4 more years if Dean is who wins the nomination.PS: Thank goodness for Dr. Russo. 
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Comment #13 posted by goneposthole on January 12, 2004 at 11:21:48 PT
a pox on both their houses
neither party is worth their salt. They have driven the country into the ground.A viable candidate worth considering isn't out there at the present time. A dark horse like Harold Stassen is more refreshing.They all need to get a life. They're all ruining ours.
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Comment #12 posted by E_Johnson on January 12, 2004 at 11:03:02 PT
The DNC isn't as friendly as Dean thinks
We will be heard from on the convention floor.
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on January 12, 2004 at 10:55:31 PT
Dean
EJ I couldn't agree more, Dean has scared me since the beginning. The jowly, fascist doctor. Yikes!It's pretty clear how this country works. The political class and corporate elite deliver us 2 candidates that are the most dedicated to maintaining the current system. Support of cannabis prohibition is a prerequisite: don't expect any help from the Democratic Party or Republican Party if you don't support CP. This is how it works at the state level also.In my state, any candidate that wants to move from a state legislator office to a national rep office must suck up to the Democratic state party (or Republican). This is done by proposing legislation that would ratchet up drug penalties even more. Recently, a candidate in my state sucked up to them by proposing to increase the number of signatures required to get a referendum on the ballot.  That's exactly what THEY want. More power for the political/corporate elite. Dean killed the VT medical marijuana bill for one reason and one reason only: because he wanted the DNC to give him the nomination. 
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Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on January 12, 2004 at 10:44:12 PT
Dean, racism and pot
I was watching the debates where Sharpton confronted Dean about the lack of non-white people in his cabinet in Vermont. Sometimes I think these very detailed race questions are superfluous to the broader picture, but this time I think Sharpton hit the nail on the head about Dean. CP is rooted in racism and classism. Harry Anslinger believed marijuana made a black man crazy enough to look a white man in the eye like an equal.Dean wants college students kicked out of college for using pot. This hurts black students more than white, because police prefer to target blacks.Dean wants to maintain cannabis prohibition. Hurts more blacks than whites.Dean wants to be the President for the men who drive pickup trucks with the Confederate flag on them. He wants to be the President of the Confederacy, basically.I have to conclude that deep down, Dean does harbor racist sentiments, and Sharpton was right to bring this issue of his cabinet into the debate.I think Dean is scary. I think this could be just the tip of the iceberg on this man.
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Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on January 12, 2004 at 10:28:43 PT
The federal agent is daft
"The federal agent who took it from Nord says the stuff is illegal contraband, according to federal law, and that he doesn't have to return it."http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/testslaw.htmThe federal agent may someday find himself in a similar predicament as Mr. Nord. The agent may need a substance that is 'contraband', use it to help alleviate any pain caused by what ails him and end up in violation of a law.Would he commit moral treason not use the substance and foolishly abide by the 'law'? What goes around always comes around.The DEA agent should swallow his foolish pride and become a human being, not a crocodile who sheds heartless tears.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 12, 2004 at 09:39:54 PT
yippierevolutionary 
Why don't you ask the questions about Iraq over on the board that Virgil posted. That would be appreciated. I don't want to go off in a million different directions here on CNews or we lose our focus. Thanks!
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Comment #7 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 09:37:06 PT
Virgil can I ask you a question?
What do you think about Kucinich's plan to get the US out of Iraq?
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 12, 2004 at 09:33:45 PT
yippierevolutionary 
In a democracy some people will work harder then others. Some people will accumulate more then others. In life there are no guarantees. Some people will be at the right place at the right time and do better then someone with equal talent but wasn't at the right place at the right time. Life isn't fair unfortunately. You can have a great job one day and be unemployed the next. We have measures to help protect people from losing everything so that is helpful. For those that really are in bad shape and become homeless we need to feed them and do our best as a society to help them. No one should go hungry. 
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on January 12, 2004 at 09:32:31 PT
Kucinich on O'Neil
The media is under complete attack at DU. People could not be more disgusted than they are. People read the stories and look for its coverage in the media and talk about how they are upset.The lastest instance is the O'Neal book that did get him an interview on 60 Minutes. O'Neil was on yesterday and the reports are coming in on the scant or non-existant coverage of his book and interview. The problem the media whores have with this is that it a big international story. The American media itself was described more accurately in an article at Pravda than anything a newspaper article has said in this country. The subject of the media is highly relevant to CP because we would not have CP if there were an honest media.The collective opinion on the media at DU grows just like the collective opinion here on the media and the cannabis issue itself. The WWW people know the seriousness of our situation. They do not think they know. They know they know the situation is grave for the cause of the common man. So now it is to the point that people want to know about the media situation in Hitler's Germany. A college person would help the Free Cannabis Cause by writing about America as it relates to an earlier Germany. Here is link to DU with comment2 being of note- http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1009545What follows is Kucinich on O'Neil and again we have to thank the Internet for running the informational blockade- http://www.kucinich.us/Kucinich on O'Neill Revelations- January 11, 2004Dennis' campaign for the presidency developed out of the response to a speech he gave in February 2002 opposing the Bush Administration's build-up to a war on Iraq.Dennis today released this statement in response to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's charges that President Bush entered office in January 2001 intent on invading Iraq and was in search of a way to go about it:"These revelations are not just about the past. The Bush Administration is still with us. They manufactured justifications for the war, and they are now manufacturing justifications for continuing this occupation. The war is not over, and the invention of justifications for it is not over. Even Democratic presidential candidates are joining in. But the idea that we can stabilize Iraq and develop a legitimate democracy prior to turning control over to the United Nations is as impossible to believe as were the claims about an imminent threat from vast stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction."
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Comment #4 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 09:24:48 PT
What I mean about work
I am definitely not saying that work is bad or that people should not work. Having your own home is one of the most important things in my humble opinion and is very admirable. What I am trying to say is that there is no reason to work as much as we do. I was responding to Virgils "The length of time people have been unemployed is leading to homelessness and bankruptcy and jingoism such as "jobless recovery" are sickening." I am trying to say that being out of work should not lead to homelessness or bankruptcy. There is plenty to go around in this country and we should take care of those who can not take care of themselves.The only reason people have to work 60 hours a week just to be broke is Greed. We get all this new technology like robotics which increases production in the factory, but where do the workers see the benefits? They are working longer for less money or are getting laid off and screwed out of their pension. If a family gets a washing machine and the kids no longer have to spend hours washing clothes we don't say the kids are unemployed and try to find more for them to do! They get more leisure time.I see robotics and other technology as the same for our "American family" if technology gives us more productivity that should cut down the work week.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 12, 2004 at 09:13:44 PT
yippierevolutionary
I believe that work is good. If we didn't do some form of work we would get lazy. Work gives a person a sense of self esteem. I'm not sure why you ask this question but I thought I'd mention how I feel about work. If we hadn't worked hard we wouldn't have our own home.
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Comment #2 posted by yippierevolutionary on January 12, 2004 at 09:06:12 PT
Why are jobs the only way to survive?
Enron was a huge company with god knows how many employees. When they went down the toilet the price of energy was not affected, the availability of energy stayed the same too. Huge amounts of resources and human effort were spent acomplishing nothing. Think of all the marriages that were broken up by people wanting to climb the Enron ladder so that they could produce: Nothing.What is so good about having 200 million people (or whatever a full employment economy is) in this country working? What are we working towards? What is the point of all of this production?I am against jobs for the sake of jobs. I believe if we got past this puritan work ethic and were somehow able to more or less equally divy up the important work our society needs we would probably only need to work 15 hours a week. 
http://www.whywork.org
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on January 12, 2004 at 08:43:10 PT
The maturing of the Internet
The awards show for the moveon.org 30 second commercial contst will be on live webcast starting at 8PM with the awards to come at about 10:45PM- http://www.bushin30seconds.org/ Here is the thread at DU- http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1009568Kucinich has a big enemy in the media as does any Democratic hopeful. I think the intelligent have figured out that the media are lying whores and everytime one of those commercials come on to demonize marijuana while people go hungry, cold, untreated for illness, and unemployed it really galls them.The length of time people have been unemployed is leading to homelessness and bankruptcy and jingoism such as "jobless recovery" are sickening. Jack Snow was on "This Week" yesterday and I was so sickened by the BS I had to cut it off.Bush the Elder came to bad light when a reporter ask him what he thought the price of a loaf of bread was. The guy did not have a clue. I am not sure that George the Lesser could give a good response to the price of gas, but of course, any place he might be questioned is highly controlled to avoid such pitfalls.Kucinich can win but America as a whole has to see the media for the thought-herding whores they are. The only way for Kucinich to win is if people turn away from network news in disgust. It is an uphill battle of course. But I do believe Bu$h is going to get mandated back to Texas in big fashion. There were 144,000 jobs added in the last quarter when it would have taken 450,000 jobs to account for the increase in population. When things are getting worse and Bu$h takes the path he did to say we have unemployment down to 5.7% and things are better, it is not helping him. He is all but lying.Even if I were neutral on cannabis laws these ads would have me upset. The ads are not helping the prohibitionist and when the GW extracts hit the market and Walters lies will be two versions of reality where there can be but one. 
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