DEFENDANT CITES MEDICAL POT LAW

Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - James Scruggs says the marijuana plants
in his house were perfectly legal - for medicinal purposes only. And
he flashed the state-issued ID card to prove it.

But police arrested him anyway, Scruggs says, violating his rights and
flouting the state's medical marijuana law.

Police and prosecutors don't see it that way.

They claim Scruggs had enough marijuana growing in his Cherry Creek
house to satisfy a roomful of dope-smokers, along with scales and
other distribution paraphernalia - and they allege that Scruggs did
intend to distribute the drug.

Both sides expect to square off in what could become one of the first
court tests of Amendment 20, the law voters passed in November 2000,
that allows Coloradans who have a doctor's signature to use marijuana
to ease the symptoms of a variety of illnesses.

The dispute started Nov. 19, when an anonymous caller told police that
Scruggs and his roommate were assaulting Scruggs' wife. Scruggs denies
there was an assault.

When the Denver officers showed up at Scruggs' brick house, they
"stumbled upon a room with a large quantity of marijuana plants and an
elaborate cultivation lab," according to the arrest report.

Now, Scruggs faces charges including possession of marijuana with
intent to distribute and possession of more than 8 ounces of
marijuana, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district
attorney's office.

Kimbrough said she couldn't comment on evidence in a pending case.
"But it would appear, based on the facts of the case, that his claim
of being allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes is not relevant
in this case," she said.

Amendment 20, the state's so-called Medical Marijuana law, , limits
the amount patients can possess to 2 ounces or six plants.

According to police, Scruggs had 20 plants in his house, and about 800
grams of marijuana.

Not true, Scruggs said.

"That's a blatant lie. I only had 2 grams," he said.

"They're weighing the plants is what they're doing."

Scruggs said he had four plants, and the other 16 were plants-to-be,
offshoots that he was cultivating.

Scruggs is angry that police destroyed the plants he says produce the
only balm for his Crohn's disease - a chronic inflammation of the bowel.

He doesn't deny that he had what police call distribution and
cultivation paraphernalia.

"You've got to have a scale," he said, so you can measure how much
marijuana you are using.

"I'm not a dealer; I never have been," he said.

Since the law took effect in June, 99 people have applied to be listed
on the state registry, said Gail Kelsey, who runs the medical
marijuana program for the state health department. All but three of
those have been approved, Kelsey said.

She estimated that since June, she has received five calls from police
verifying that someone is on the registry.

Amendment 20 did not spell out how patients could get marijuana -
doctor's can't prescribe it, and selling it is illegal.

Scruggs realizes he may not be the ideal poster boy for the rights of
medical marijuana users. He faces additional marijuana-cultivation
charges in Steamboat Springs, and he served eight years in Nevada for
felony murder.

But he says that's all behind him.

"I had some trouble when I was 17, but I'm 31 now. I'm just a guy with
the pickup and the dog and the wife, just living in Cherry Creek
trying to have a life."

If Scruggs is truly using his marijuana for medicinal purposes only,
it's a shame he has to be charged with a crime despite Amendment 20,
said Julie Roche of Coloradans for Medical Rights, which backed
Amendment 20.

But if he's guilty of the charges, "it's too bad he linked this to the
registry," Roche said. "That could hurt patients who are legitimately
doing this."