JUDGE REFUSES TO RETURN MARIJUANA

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A Superior Court judge Tuesday denied medicinal
marijuana supporter David Fawcett's request to reclaim 40 seized marijuana
plants from the Drug Enforcement Agency, ruling that as a state judge, he
had no jurisdiction over the federal agency.

"The federal government has your property, sir," Dennis G. Cole said,
citing the recent Supreme Court ruling in U.S. vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyer's
Collective. "The federal government has determined that possession of
marijuana is still a crime."

Fawcett's complaint was dismissed. The Ontario resident is expected to
appeal Cole's ruling.

Fawcett was arrested in May, shortly after a story on his medicinal
marijuana use appeared in the Daily Bulletin. The San Bernardino County
District Attorney's Office decided not to file charges, saying he was
within California law, which allows for medicinal marijuana use if a doctor
approves.

An Ontario Police Department spokesman said in June the department had
turned Fawcett's plants over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for
investigation of a possible federal crime. Fawcett, acting as his own
attorney, had argued that the plants had been illegally seized and that the
Ontario Police Department had no right to act as an agent for the federal
government.

"This is a violation of the California Constitution," he said.

Fawcett said he did not expect to have his plants returned - he said he
believes the Drug Enforcement Agency probably has already destroyed them -
but wanted to establish the principle that he had the right to have them
and also needed to file the complaint for insurance purposes.

The Drug Enforcement Agency's policy is not to comment on its investigations.

Medicinal marijuana activist Andrea Nagy, part of a group of activists who
appeared in court with Fawcett, said the judge's ruling was incorrect.

"There is no consistency in the rulings right now," Nagy said. "Half the
judges give it back and half the judges throw their hands in the air and
say they have no jurisdiction. Allowing this makes it open season for
highway robbery on patients."

At issue was whether the raid on Fawcett's home was legal after the article
and photos showed him with the plants he was growing for medical purposes.
A police spokesman said that since Fawcett was on probation from an earlier
marijuana arrest, the department had the right to search.

"The problem is the opposing views on Proposition 215," activist Andy
Kinnon of Mission Viejo said of the 1996 initiative that legalized medical
marijuana use in California. "You have people who were vehemently opposed
to this law who are in law enforcement, and they are doing what they can
against it."