|
Newsbrief:
In
Colorado
First,
Denver
Police
Return
Marijuana
to
Patient
3/11/05
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/378/cofirst.shtml
On March 4, medical marijuana
patient Thomas Lawrence made Colorado history as the Denver Police Department
returned to him a bag of marijuana it had seized during a January 11 traffic
stop. While Lawrence didn't have his permit with him when stopped,
he did have a state medical marijuana permit, and he went to the police
station on February 3 with a court order demanding the medicine be returned.
Police initially balked, but last week the weed walked.
"This is the first time that
drugs have been released to anyone" by Denver police, Detective Sgt. Teresa
Garcia told the Colorado Freedom
Report. As for the department's earlier refusal to comply with
the court order, Garcia pleaded ignorance. "I'm not too specific
about that," she said. "It's narcotics, it's a controlled substance,
so we have to take every precaution."
"They were really polite
-- they apologized for the misunderstanding," said Lawrence. "It
was simple; it was like picking up anything else... It was difficult for
them to let go of, I guess."
While Lawrence was happy
to get his medicine back, his attorney, Robert Corry said police had acted
improperly in seizing the marijuana in the first place. "The state
government has no right to take his medicine from him... The police need
an education on Colorado law. There are certain people who have a
right to use medical marijuana," he said. Still, said Corry, the
medicine's return was "a victory for the voters of Colorado" and for patients,
who, he said, "for too long have been living in fear."
But Lawrence still had one
complaint: The condition of his medicine after nearly two months
in police storage. "It's a little drier than I'd like," he said.
-- END --
|
Issue #378
-- 3/11/05
Busy
Week:
Campaign
for
Repeal
of
HEA
Drug
Provision
on
the
RISE
|
UN
Forum
Highlights
Divides
Over
Harm
Reduction
--
US
Powerful
But
Isolated
|
Police
and
Needle
Exchanges:
The
Philadelphia
Story
and
Beyond
|
Howard
Rides
Again:
Former
Texas
Lawman
Riding
Cross
Country
on
Horseback
to
Explain
Why
Cops
Say
Legalize
Drugs
|
DRCNet
Interviews
Drug
Policy
Alliance
Executive
Director
Ethan
Nadelmann
on
Reaching
Out
to
the
Right
|
Coasters
to
Stop
the
Drug
War
|
Newsbrief:
Federal
Prosecutors
Ask
Life
Sentence
for
Dr.
Hurwitz
|
Newsbrief:
Mountie
Murders
Shift
Canada
Marijuana
Debate
Rightward
Even
Though
Grow-Up
Link
Tenuous
|
Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Newsbrief:
In
Colorado
First,
Denver
Police
Return
Marijuana
to
Patient
|
Newsbrief:
Peruvian
First
Lady
Defends
Coca
|
Newsbrief:
Local
Authorities
Trying
to
Ban
Million
Marijuana
March
in
London
Neighborhood
|
Newsbrief:
Dutch
Coffee
Shops
Facing
Pressure,
Greater
Controls
|
Events
and
Conferences
Coming
Up
for
Drug
Reformers
--
Come
Out
and
Be
a
Part
of
It
|
This
Week
in
History
|
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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