cannabisnews.com: Feds Try To Stop State Charge in Medical Pot Case





Feds Try To Stop State Charge in Medical Pot Case
Posted by CN Staff on January 24, 2004 at 08:24:26 PT
By Mike McPhee, Denver Post Staff Writer
Source: Denver Post 
The U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss a contempt charge against federal agents who seized marijuana from a Colorado man who had state permission to smoke it for medical purposes. The case highlights a clear conflict between state and federal laws.Attorneys for the federal government argued in a brief filed Friday that the agents were following federal law, which treats marijuana as contraband. But Colorado law allows authorized medical patients to possess up to 2 ounces of loose marijuana and three live plants. Colorado has authorized about 300 patients to smoke marijuana.
On Oct. 14, nine members of the GRAMNET drug task force entered the tiny apartment of Don Nord, 57, of Hayden, armed with a state search warrant to confiscate his marijuana. Eight members of the task force are local law enforcement officers and one, Doug Cortinovis, was a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. The state officers were deputized DEA agents.They confiscated six plants, 5 ounces of loose marijuana that Nord said was worthless because of its age, a pipe, growing equipment, extension cords and Nord's Medical Marijuana Registry card.A few days later, Nord's attorney, Kristopher Hammond, sent a copy of the registration card to Routt County Judge James Garrecht, who had signed the search warrant. No charges were filed against Nord, and Garrecht ordered that everything be returned, including 2 of the 5 ounces of the loose marijuana. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/fedcase.htmNewshawk: The GCWSource: Denver Post (CO)Author: Mike McPhee, Denver Post Staff WriterPublished: Saturday, January 24, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Denver Post CorpWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.com Related Articles:U.S. Court Snags Pot Fight http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18204.shtmlAttorney Asks To Dismiss Citations in Pot Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18202.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 #5 posted by Rev Jonathan Adler on January 24, 2004 at 14:01:36 PT:
Aren't they supposedly protecting us?
Aloha! It seems that medical rights are not secure without a religious exemption! I suggest everyone who intends to be legal, immediately join the legal church! Even the Feds have been ordered to respect religious freedom that has been recognized by the courts. Peyote, Ayahuasca and cannabis have all passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993's standards and are protected by federal law! Legal practitioners are in fact conducting legal activities when they use it spiritually! That makes the actions of some law enforcement illegal. The court in Nord's case has done it's job well. 9th Circuit applys only in the 9th Circuit, so it is a precedent in either case. I also have set precedent for religious use in my case of 2002 State vs. Adler. The Judge clearly stated my use for spiritual purposes was in fact valid. Also the pipe used was ruled to be valid and not considered paraphenalia. If true, how could the same Judge have put me in jail for 6 months during an election where I was a candidate for Governor on the ballot? Did the State's compelling interest to enforce antiquated drug laws really outweigh my valid proven religious freedom? My appeal will answer that question whenever the State Supreme Court develops the courage to act on it. It was filed over a year ago! I wish you all a Happy Safe New Year! Peace.     Rev. Jon Adler
Box 742 Hilo, Hi 96721
www.medijuana.com
www.sacramedicine.com
www.hawaaii.usmjparty.com
Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute
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Comment #4 posted by Virgil on January 24, 2004 at 10:45:37 PT
Colorado is not in the 9th
The same reasoning that brought the 9th Circuit ruling would apply and at that point it seems like the Supreme Court would have to step in if they reach conflicting positions.The 9th Circuit includes more people than any other circuit. This comes from an article on a different ruling- The decision of the appeals court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, affects death row inmates in Arizona, Idaho and Montana. The other two states that had had unconstitutional sentencing laws, Colorado and Nebraska, are not directly affected by the decision because they are not in the Ninth Circuit, which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, along with Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. - http://www.ncadp.org/html/9th_circuit_ct_9_2_03.html
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on January 24, 2004 at 10:05:07 PT
Is Colorado in the 9th?
I don't know how these districts and rulings work. I though the Ninth Circuit didn't include Colorado. But I'm no lawyer so I really have no idea.
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Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on January 24, 2004 at 09:26:16 PT:
Opportunity Knocks
If this case in federal court runs unfavorably for Mr. Nord, it presents an opportunity for appeal based on the ruling in the U.S. 9th Circuit of Appeals where it held that the prosecution of medical marijuana patients is unconstitutional.I hope that we can encourage Mr. Nord to go to the Supreme Court if necessary to permanently close the door to our federal prosecutor's intentions to jail medical marijuana users.On another note, if prosectution of medical marijuana users is unconstitutional, then recreational users should be able to grow and use marijuana in the privacy of their homes as well.Alternatively, the federal government could simply leave the issue up to the states. It's relatively easy to get state law changed. I've coresponded with my Texas state representative and senator and both have indicated favorably intentions toward marijuana decriminalization. If everyone else would just turn up the heat on their respective state legislatures, the laws would be changed nationwide relatively quickly.Anyone else notice all the heat the prohibitionists are bringing in the UK. Wow! What a revolt.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 24, 2004 at 09:03:04 PT
The Feds are out of control.
This has some of the feel of what the Feds did in California.State Pot Prosecution Now a Federal Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18191.shtmlThis same paper, The Denver Post ran this Editorial 2 days earlier and it hits the bulls-eye on this subject.US CO: Editorial: Freedom Under Attackhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n149/a07.html?397
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