DA DECLINES TO CHARGE MEDICAL-MARIJUANA USER

ONTARIO The District Attorney's Office has decided not to file charges
against David Fawcett, who was arrested May 22 for growing 38 marijuana
plants in a backyard garden for what he said were medical reasons.

Deputy District Attorney Richard Maxwell said Fawcett's possession fell
within terms of Proposition 215, which permits marijuana possession by
individuals who have letters from doctors stating they need the drug for
medical reasons.

"What we're saying (by declining to prosecute) is that the state law
(against marijuana possession) doesn't apply to him," Maxwell said.

Fawcett is not totally in the clear yet. The federal Drug Enforcement
Administration has opened a case against him, Ontario Detective Mike
Macias said. A U.S. Supreme Court decision last month struck down the
medical necessity defense in federal marijuana cases but did not address
the California law.

Police began researching Fawcett's background after a story about him
appeared on the front page of the May 20 Ontario Daily Bulletin. On May
22, police staked out Fawcett's home in the 1100 block of East Bermuda
Dunes Street and arrested him about two hours later, Macias said.

Fawcett had a letter from a physician stating that he needed marijuana
to alleviate several medical conditions, including shingles and severe
depression. At the time of Fawcett's arrest, police said such letters
were readily available by mail order through magazines popular with drug
users.

An investigation of Fawcett's letter showed it was written by a doctor
licensed to practice in California, Maxwell said.

Fawcett would have been vulnerable under California law if he had been
growing the plants to sell the product to others, but Maxwell said
Ontario police did not uncover any evidence of that.

"It's all well and good that they dropped the charges, but they have
ruined my life again," Fawcett said. "They took all my plants, and I
don't think they're going to return them. The plants are dead by now,
anyway."

The 38 plants seized during the arrest will not be returned to Fawcett
because they are part of the DEA investigation, Macias said.

Ontario police had been hoping for a test case on California's medical
marijuana laws, Macias said.

"We definitely would rather see a test case coming from Southern
California than from up north, where they rubber-stamp anything dealing
with marijuana," Macias said. "We believe people who support medical
marijuana want it to come from a doctor. We don't think people want
other people growing it in their back yard."