WHOSE MARIJUANA IS IT?

Sheriff Was Right To Surrender Patients' Pot

Yuba County law enforcement officials were convinced the Satterfield family
possessed something illegally. That something was confiscated. But a judge
ruled that the couple had broken no state law and ordered the sheriff to
return this something. Sheriff Virginia Black for a while refused, risking
the prospect of being held in contempt of court. Why?

This something, of course, is marijuana. Belinda Satterfield has breast
cancer, and smokes marijuana to combat nausea from chemotherapy. Doyle
Satterfield says he smokes pot because of his insomnia and arthritis.
Following the rules under a state law (passed by voters in 1996, via
Proposition 215), the Satterfields got a letter from a doctor authorizing
this use. The Satterfields decided to grow their own.

Their venture into agriculture eventually caught the attention of the
Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, which last summer confiscated the
couple's 37 plants. They were charged under state law with illegal
possession of pot. But the charges were later dropped after they showed the
paperwork from the doctor. Superior Court Judge James Curry then ruled that
the couple should get the pot back. But the sheriff for several days said
no.

It seemed like the sheriff was trying to make a reasonable point here in an
irresponsible way. Yes, marijuana is illegal under federal law for any use,
medicinal or recreational. Yes, it goes against local law enforcement's
grain to return to a citizen a substance that under federal law is banned.

But defy a court order? Curry had to interpret a muddy set of state laws
about marijuana. The ruling, disagree with it or not, falls within the
boundaries of the Proposition 215. In the eyes of the state, the
Satterfields are law-abiding citizens.

Black eventually made the right call and gave the marijuana back to the
Satterfields. If the feds in their war on drugs wish to go after the couple,
they shouldn't have much trouble finding out where they live.