cannabisnews.com: New Vineyard Man Wants His Pot Back 





New Vineyard Man Wants His Pot Back 
Posted by FoM on November 04, 2000 at 07:11:02 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe
 A state judge has given a New Vineyard man two weeks to provide medical documentation that complies with the state's medical marijuana law before ruling whether his pot should be returned. Leonard Ellis is allowed by Judge Robert Mullen to continue to use marijuana as prescribed under the Maine Medicinal Marijuana Act while free on bail. But that wasn't enough. 
Ellis, 62, asked the judge Thursday to order police to return 83 marijuana plants, 43 marijuana cigarettes and processed marijuana seized from his home while he awaits a jury trial early next year. Ellis suffers from muscular dystrophy and says he uses marijuana to relax his deteriorating muscles so he can sleep. The state medical marijuana law allows patients suffering from a serious disease to possess six growing plants and 1¼ ounces of processed marijuana if they have a prescription for the drug. When police arrested Ellis for having more marijuana than allowed, they seized a handwritten note dated Aug. 18, 1983 from Dr. Stuart A. Kendall of Oak Bluff, Mass., that suggested Ellis use marijuana to alleviate his symptoms. His regular physician, Dr. Antoine Atallah of Waterville, later wrote a letter to the judge urging Ellis to be allowed to use marijuana ''on a daily basis.'' When questioned about why he had such a large crop, Ellis said, ''I was growing enough to last the rest of my life.'' Assistant District Attorney James Andrews argued that if the judge ordered police to return the marijuana, ''You would be ordering the officer to commit a crime under federal law.'' Outside the courtroom, Ellis said he is still using marijuana. ''I don't know who does it,'' he said, ''but someone has left a little bag of marijuana on my door a couple of times with the note, 'Enjoy,' on it.'' Complete Title: New Vineyard Man Wants His Pot Back While Awaiting Trial Farmington, Maine (AP)Source: Boston Globe (MA)Published: November 3, 2000Copyright: 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.Address: P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378Contact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Feedback: http://extranet.globe.com/LettersEditor/default.aspRelated Articles & Web Site:Mainers For Medical Rightshttp://www.mainers.org/Bail Eased for Medical Marijuana User's Need http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7131.shtmlMan with Muscular Dystrophy Loses his Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/6/thread6683.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml CannabisNews Articles - Maine:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=maine
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Comment #1 posted by freedom fighter on November 05, 2000 at 09:12:32 PT
Just give
his plants back!
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