JUDGE SEIZES MEDICAL MARIJUANA AT GOVERNMENT'S REQUEST

A federal judge said Wednesday the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision
barring medical marijuana prompted him to order that an ounce of cannabis
seized from a California man be forfeited.

It is believed to be among the first such forfeiture since the nation's
highest court ruled last week that sick and dying patients cannot claim a
medical necessity defense to marijuana possession in a case testing
California and eight other states' medical marijuana laws.

At the government's request, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Legge
ordered forfeited one ounce of marijuana seized two years ago from a
Humboldt County man who was arrested during a traffic stop. Under
California law, Christopher Giauque had a doctor's recommendation to smoke
marijuana to relieve chronic back pain.

County prosecutors seized the marijuana but did not charge Giauque for any
drug-related offense. A county judge ordered Sheriff Dennis Lewis to return
the marijuana. Lewis refused, citing federal law that prohibits him from
dispensing marijuana.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson ordered the sheriff held
in contempt of court and the sheriff sued the federal government, asking it
to intervene on his behalf.

Mark T. Quinlivan, the Justice Department's main lawyer in the case before
the Supreme Court, flew from Washington to California to argue for the
seizure of Giauque's marijuana. He declined to say whether the government's
position on Giauque's case or his appearance here was an indication of
whether the Bush administration is going to begin cracking down on medical
marijuana use.

Even so, he said the judge's decision was correct in light of the high
court's ruling.

"You presume a U.S. district judge is aware of the current state of the
law," he said after the brief hearing.

The high court said there is no exception in a federal anti-drug law for
the medical use of marijuana. Some patients say the drug eases their pain
from cancer, AIDS and other illnesses or pains.

The court ruled that clubs formed to distribute the drug to approved
patients cannot claim "medical necessity" as a reason to break a 1970 law
regulating the drug as a controlled substance, and said patients cannot
claim that as a defense.

Giauque's attorney, J. Bryce Kenny, said he would ask the judge to
reconsider his decision. He added that the high court's ruling hurt his case.

"Let's put it this way, the U.S. Supreme Court certainly hasn't helped our
position," Kenny said.

Voters in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington have approved ballot initiatives allowing the use of medical
marijuana. In Hawaii, the Legislature passed a similar law and the governor
signed it last year.

The case decided Tuesday is Humboldt County v. Giauque, C01-1279 CAL.