COUPLE ARRESTED FOR POT, AGAIN

A Larimer County couple already being prosecuted for marijuana
cultivation was re-arrested Thursday after investigators in two
counties seized 25 pounds of pot and more than 200 live plants.

Christopher and Tiffany Crumbliss were arrested by Larimer County
sheriff's deputies after raids at four locations in Larimer County
and one in Breckenridge, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

The exact locations where the marijuana was seized were not released,
and the Sheriff's Office said it would release no further information
about the case, pending the court process.

The couple has had multiple run-ins with Colorado law enforcement
over their marijuana cultivation.

The two say they grow the pot for their and others' medical use and
say they have the paperwork to prove it. They are due to stand trial
later this year for a 2007 arrest in which similar amounts of
marijuana and plants were seized.

"It's totally ridiculous," said Chris Crumbliss' lawyer, Sean
McAllister. "They're caregivers for legitimate patients, and they're
being picked on. If they're legal and providing for patients, why are
they being arrested?"

McAllister said law enforcement in Larimer County seems uninterested
in finding out whether the Crumblisses really are legitimate caregivers.

He said they have dozens of patients who depend on them for medical
marijuana, as permitted by Colorado's Amendment 20.

He said the couple's two young children were placed with foster
parents following the Thursday arrests.

"I think it's egregious, a total travesty," McAllister said.

A spokeswoman for the Larimer County District Attorney's Office was
unavailable at 4 p.m. Friday, and a receptionist said no one else
there could answer a reporter's questions.

The Crumblisses face charges of marijuana cultivation and possession
with intent to distribute.

Colorado voters in 2000 approved Amendment 20, which permits patients
or their approved caregivers to possess no more than 2 ounces of a
usable form of marijuana, and no more than six marijuana plants, with
three or fewer being mature, flowering plants that are producing a
usable form of marijuana.

People must get approval from a doctor to be registered as medical
marijuana users or caregivers.

According to the state registry, there are 3,302 people approved to
possess medical marijuana in Colorado. The state reports that 71
percent of the people on the registry are male, and the average age
is 42. The list as a whole is secret.

In 2006, Chris Crumbliss was stopped for driving under the influence
in Jefferson County, and police found 36 plants in his vehicle.
Police initially seized the plants but then returned them.

Supporters of Amendment 20 argue that law enforcement is supposed to
maintain marijuana plants seized from people until a court decides
whether they are legally permitted to have them.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden on Friday said his office had no
plans to maintain the plants.

"Are you kidding?" he said.

The couple had posted an aggregate $67,500 bond Friday and were
expected to be released Friday evening.