MAN VOWS TO FIGHT DRUG CHARGES

THIBODAUX -- A man authorities arrested last month on drug-possession
charges returned to California this week after a district judge
granted him permission to seek treatment while awaiting his next court date.

Hours before he returned to his home in California on Wednesday,
Matthew Zugsberger said he remains resolute in his fight to prove his
California license for medical marijuana should be recognized in
Louisiana and anywhere else in the U.S.

Zugsberger, 32, faces three drug charges stemming from a June arrest
where State Police allegedly discovered 951 grams, or 2.12 pounds, of
marijuana inside his apartment, 2316 St. Bernard Road Apt. E.

At the time of his arrest, Zugsberger was housesitting his
girlfriend's apartment while she participated in an internship in New York.

Zugsberger was initially scheduled to plead on July 18 to charges of
possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of hashish
and possession of drug paraphernalia.

That date has been rescheduled to Aug. 18 at the request of the
Lafourche Parish District Attorney's Office.

In lieu of his court date, District Judge Bruce Simpson granted
Zugsberger's request to return to California, where he grows
marijuana at home. Calls to Simpson's office were not returned.

"It's been very difficult," Zugsberger said of the past month. "On
top of the waiting, it costs a tremendous amount of money to stage a
legal defense."

He is represented by Brandon Brown of Baton Rouge.

State Police investigators were tipped off by California authorities
that a large shipment of marijuana addressed to Zugsberger was en
route to his apartment, Troop C spokesman Gilbert Dardar said
following his arrest.

Zugsberger was released from the Lafourche Parish jail after posting
a $5,000 bond hours after being booked.

Zugsberger said he believes his case will end one of two ways: the
prosecutors will drop the charges or it will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Though he is confident he will eventually be vindicated, he laments
what he envisions as a long road ahead.

"I don't want to be the guinea pig, but unfortunately society's made
me the guinea pig," said Zugsberger, who uses marijuana to ease the
severe nausea caused by a spinal cord injury suffered while working offshore.

State Police has not yet returned his marijuana, Zugsberger said, but
it did give him back his medical order. His prescription, legal in
that state, was issued by a doctor in California.

The reason for the delay in Zugsberger's case, Assistant District
Attorney Joe Soignet said, was that prosecutors are awaiting an
investigative report from State Police, which requires them to obtain
the defendant's medical records in California.

"I have no hard feelings against the state," Zugsberger said.
"They're going to do what they feel is best. It's the same thing for
law enforcement."

And in return, Zugsberger said he will continue to do what he feels is best.

"I'm not fighting for marijuana," he said. "I'm fighting for the
concept that civil liberties are still alive. We must hold on to the
civil liberties we have before they fade away."