MEDICAL-MARIJUANA USER TAKEN ON A BAD TRIP BY LEGAL SYSTEM

Sometimes there's a fine line between consent and coercion.

Jack Branson learned that lesson the hard way in October 2004 when
officers from the North Metro Drug Task Force knocked on his door.

Would Branson give consent to these officers to conduct a warrantless
search of his home in Thornton?

Well, of course he would consent - especially after, as Branson tells
it, the dozen or so armed cops explained, in detail, the needless
tragedies that would befall his home if they were forced to go through
the trouble of returning with a warrant.

In they went.

The police, naturally, knew exactly what they were looking for and
quickly seized about a dozen marijuana plants Branson was growing in
the backyard.

Charged with felony cultivation and possession with intent to
distribute, the 38-year-old Branson, who is in a 20-year fight with
HIV, is now facing a maximum six years in prison.

Branson, who had no previous criminal record, claims that a physician
named Dr. Cynthia Firnhaber verbally recommended medical marijuana to
him in 2002 to help ease his pain.

"That or pick out a hospice which you'd like to die in," Branson
alleges the doctor told him.

Firnhaber, who was then at the University of Colorado at Denver and
Health Sciences Center, refused to put the marijuana recommendation in
writing, according to Branson's lawyers, because CU is a federally
funded institution and she would be in danger of losing her job.

Branson has since obtained the proper medical marijuana paperwork from
a doctor - proving only that his need for medical marijuana was not
fabricated.

"Physically it helps with the nausea and my appetite," Branson
explains. "It's the only way I can keep food down and my medications.
Plus, I'm able to focus a little better. Rather than being so anxious
and depressed about my prognosis, I think about what I need to do to
try and survive rather than always feel the anxiety of dying."

The main problem for the defense will be Firnhaber. She now teaches in
South Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, where she's a
specialist in fighting AIDS. Securing her live testimony in court
could prove difficult. Written testimony won't do. And even if they
can get her on the phone, a judge would have to allow it.

Yet, the most difficult aspect to understand is why this case is going
to trial next week in the first place.

Colorado voters passed Amendment 20 in 2000, allowing doctors to
recommend marijuana to patients with debilitating diseases - just like
Branson's.

Pleading down the case might have been possible for Branson, were it
not for two factors:

The first is principle. Branson doesn't believe he did anything wrong.
The second is self-preservation. Any drug conviction could mean
Branson might lose his Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

As Branson is too weak to hold down a job, he needs the assistance to
survive.

"I don't want to die in jail," Branson tells me. "Actually, I wanted
to see if there was some way I could have a sentence of lethal
injection if I was found guilty. ... If I need to take it into my own
hands, I will do so."

Pretrial drama? Who knows? But it is clear that a peaceful man using
marijuana for medicinal purposes, just as voters had intended in 2000,
may now die in prison.

Of course, however tragic our situations, we can't pick and choose
which laws to follow. And Branson did not have the proper paperwork.

But district attorneys (and the one in Adams did not return my call)
do pick and choose whom they prosecute - by prioritizing and weighing
the importance of each case.

At the very worst, Branson was engaged in a victimless crime. This
isn't a burnout deadhead with a debilitating case of bad vibes looking
for a legal toke.

Does Branson deserve jail for this crime? Do the taxpayers of Adams
County deserve to pay for this prosecution?

I'm not sure any reasonable person would say yes.