cannabisnews.com: Ailing Man To Feds: Give Back My Pot





Ailing Man To Feds: Give Back My Pot
Posted by CN Staff on August 03, 2004 at 08:43:06 PT
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
Source: Rocky Mountain News 
Aurora -- Dana May is an imposing figure, but a severe nerve ailment and federal authorities are bringing him to his knees. The only remedy that works for his chronic pain, he said, is the medical marijuana those authorities seized from his home in late May.Standing 6-feet-8 and weighing 300 pounds, May said he can't walk, stand or sit without excruciating pain in his back, lower legs and feet. He says the depression that the pain causes him literally could kill him.
May, 45, has taken morphine, methadone, Demerol and an assortment of painkillers since 1996. He tried acupuncture, but neither it nor the drugs brought any significant relief.Nearly two years ago May learned of Colorado's new medical marijuana law that voters approved in 2000. He met with his neurologist, Lynn Parry, to discuss trying marijuana to relieve the pain caused by his condition, reflex sympathetic dystrophy. May's doctor gave him her blessings, signing the legal forms that allowed May to grow and smoke marijuana."Mr. May had tried every known medication for his condition, and he tried medical marijuana as a last resort and only upon my recommendation," Parry wrote in an affidavit.May said that when he smokes marijuana, it doesn't leave him pain-free, but it does make him feel much more comfortable than he's felt during the last eight years. He said his condition was caused by injuries he suffered in a 1995 accident when he was truck driver."The marijuana is so much better, and I don't know why that is," said May, who often walks gingerly around in his home in his shorts and bare feet. He said that when he wears socks and pants, they cause an additional burning sensation in his legs and feet."It kind of dulls (the pain) because nothing takes the pain away. It knocks it down enough for me to function, to see the kids play sports," he said.When he smoked his marijuana, May said he did it in the basement of his home where he grew his plants and where his three children, ages 15 and 9-year-old twins, can't gain access.But someone told federal and local authorities about the marijuana plants inside May's Aurora home.While May was preparing to pick up his children from school May 27, he noticed a couple of Aurora police cars speeding to his home, which is at the end of a cul-de-sac.Then he saw more patrol and unmarked cars, and police officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents with their guns drawn.When they asked May where his marijuana was, he told them his plants were in the basement and displayed his medical marijuana "patient" and "caregiver" documents. Nonetheless, the agents took away his 109.1 grams of dried and usable marijuana and 31 pieces of equipment, including transformers, water pumps, cloning machines and exhaust fans that he used to grow his supply.But May got a break when the Arapahoe County district attorney's office informed his lawyer, Robert J. Corry Jr., last month that it was not going to prosecute May for possession and cultivation of marijuana.Prosecutors said the case would have been difficult to prove because May tried to comply with Colorado's medical marijuana law. They also said they had no evidence May was distributing the drug.Following the district attorney's decision, May's lawyer wrote to the DEA's asset forfeiture section last Wednesday demanding that the agency return his client's marijuana and his growing equipment, which is valued at about $3,000.Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said federal authorities definitely will not return May's marijuana."Any marijuana in custody of the DEA is considered contraband and prohibited under federal law," -Dorschner said.May's case is the latest that pits federal anti-drug laws against state laws approved by voters that legally permit seriously ill people to smoke marijuana on the theory that it reduces their pain and suffering."The case is really about respect for the voters of Colorado, and the federal government needs to respect our voters," Corry said. "Dana is guilty of no crime except for suffering from an extremely debilitating disease."Note: Aurora resident lost marijuana to agents, despite Colorado law.Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)Author: Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain NewsPublished: August 3, 2004Copyright: 2004 Denver Publishing Co.Contact: letters denver-rmn.com Website: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmPot Program Nixes Caregivers' Cardshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18991.shtmlMedical Marijuana Registry Attracts Applicantshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15781.shtmlKaiser Lawyers Back Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10245.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on August 03, 2004 at 13:44:02 PT
Ever since the Feds. took over...
there hasn't been any developements in the Don Nord case.Nord Files Motion To Get Marijuana Back http://cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18567.shtml Steamboat Pilot & Today , March 31, 2004 (April fools day…)U.S. Court Eyes Agent's Refusal To Return Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18482.shtml March 11, 2004 - The Denver PostPot Case Off To Federal Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18478.shtml March 10, 2004And now Dana May is not allowed the persuit of happyness.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on August 03, 2004 at 13:10:24 PT
The war on drugs is bad for environment.
While searching for new news about Don Nord, in His Steamboat Springs, Colorado newspaper, I came across this story about how the man wants to ruin wetlands in order to create another place to persecute cannabis users etc.Wetlands, here in the west are a primary concern, yet here are justice center types, willing to overlook the harm done to the environment, to conduct their dirty deeds.County gets 'no' on justice center site STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a preliminary decision denying Routt County's application for a permit to fill wetlands at the site of the new justice center.
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/24986But what about Don? 
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on August 03, 2004 at 12:50:27 PT
Just this morning I was wondering about 
Don Nord, who is going through some of the same problems in Colorado.US CO: U.S. Court Eyes Agent's Refusal to Return Pot http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n422/a04.html?113609JUDGE: RETURN MARIJUANA http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1895/a05.html?113610FEDS TOLD TO RETURN MEDICAL MARIJUANA 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1906/a12.html?113610and many more...
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Comment #1 posted by Max Flowers on August 03, 2004 at 12:15:02 PT
Everybody sue the DEA and DOJ
The federal government needs to respect not just Colorado voters, but also the U.S. Constitution and the private lives of every state citizen, over which they have zero jurisdiction!! People need to realize that whenever the federal government does any of this crap, they are out of bounds, out of their jurisdiction. The federal government is by law supposed to be very limited in the scope and reach of its power; in fact, anything not specified in the Constitution as its area of authority is left to the states. However, for many years they have ignored this, and have been creeping more and more into the private lives and affairs of citizens of SOVEREIGN STATES... if people don't wake up to this illegal and immoral power grab very soon, I fear that "the land of the free" will have no more true freedom at all. 
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