MEDICAL POT FIGURE TARGETS DEA AGENTS

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - A Hayden man whose supply of medical marijuana was
seized in an October raid by a local-federal drug task force has asked a
judge to find the officers in contempt for failing to return the drug.

Don Nord, 57, who is registered with the state medical marijuana program,
had obtained an order from a Routt County judge earlier this month calling
for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to return 2 ounces of
marijuana to him.

After the agency missed the deadline Monday, Nord and his attorney,
Kristopher Hammond, filed a request with Routt County Judge James Garrecht
seeking contempt-of-court citations against the officers.

"We waited up all night (Monday), just like waiting for Santa Claus to show
up," Hammond said. "Instead of Santa Claus, we got the Grinch."

If cited for contempt, the officers could be fined, forced to pay legal
fees or jailed, Hammond said.

Officers with the Grand, Routt and Moffat Narcotics Enforcement Team, made
up of local officers and DEA agents, searched Nord's home and seized the
drugs in mid-October. They argued that they are not bound by a county
judge's ruling because federal law prohibiting any use of marijuana
supersedes state law.

"Under federal law, marijuana is contraband, and by policy, we destroy
contraband," said the U.S. attorney's spokesman, Dick Weatherbee. "There is
obviously a dilemma here."

Garrecht had earlier dropped charges of possession of marijuana and drug
paraphernalia against Nord, who said he suffers from cancer, diabetes and
other ailments.