MEDICAL MARIJUANA FARMER BUSTED; DOCTOR'S NOTE SEIZED

Sheriff's deputies busted a small marijuana farm at a Lancaster
trailer park Tuesday and confiscated 11, 3-month-old plants after the
park manager called to complain.

The problem is, marijuana farmer Robert Brittain has a note from his
doctor.

Brittain said he contracted HIV through a blood transfusion when he
was in the Army. Today, he has full-blown AIDS and takes medication to
bolster his immune system. The drugs are very harsh, Brittain said,
and cause him severe nausea.

"With the marijuana, I can keep the drugs down," he said.

Brittain is one of a small group of people who are legally allowed to
possess, grow and use marijuana under the "Compassionate Use Act of
1996."

The law, enacted by voters as Proposition 215 in November 1996, states
in part that the sections of law governing possession and cultivation
of marijuana don't apply to a patient who grows and or smokes it for
medical purposes under the recommendation or approval of a doctor.

Brittain has his doctor's recommendation and approval in writing, but
said that the drugs plus purchasing pharmaceutical marijuana cost him
$400 a month.

"That is just for two cigarettes a day," Brittain said. "I also eat
the leaf for pain relief. Without it I have to take very strong
narcotics - morphine and phentenol."

When deputies arrived Tuesday, Brittain allowed them to search his
house and gave them his written doctor's note and membership card to
the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative.

The Cooperative is an organization where patients can obtain marijuana
legally and is also a source for legal information about the law
enacted by Prop. 215.

"In most cases deputies are well aware of the law and tend to honor
our ID cards," said Scott Imler, president of the cooperative. "There's
a number on the cards for them to call and most of them do call."

Imler said the cooperative verifies the legitimate medical need for
marijuana before issuing a card to a patient.

Brittain said the deputies took his card and his doctor's note and did
not return them. He said that the deputies were courteous to him but
would not listen to him about his legal right to grow marijuana.

Brittain is upset because the deputies uprooted his plants and
confiscated them. He said that he has the legal right to grow them and
that they represented three months' worth of gardening work.

Pat Nelson, the sergeant in charge of the Lancaster narcotics crew,
said the deputies could not confirm the truth of Brittain's doctor's
note, so they were required by investigative procedures to confiscate
the evidence.

"If we were to leave the plants there for him then we would have to do
that for everybody we catch cultivating marijuana," Nelson said.
"Basically, we would have to excuse all instances of cultivation."

Nelson said he was able to reach Brittain's doctor about an hour after
deputies left and said he confirmed that Brittain's prescription was
valid.

He added that there was a question in the case about whether Brittain
was growing more than is allowed for personal use. Unfortunately, the
compassionate use act does not specify amounts for personal use and
court precedents have had varying values.

"We tried to clear that up in the attorney general's task force
meeting last year," Imler said. "We tried to work out some clear
guidelines, but we weren't able to reach an agreement with narcotics
officers, and that's where this gray area is. As the co-author of
Prop. 215, I've got to take my lumps for that."

Nelson said the case would be put in the hands of the district
attorney's office for a legal opinion about its merits.

Brittain called the office of Michael D. Antonovich, 5th District L.A.
County supervisor, to complain about the loss of his plants. He was
referred to the sheriff's department's legal adviser.

Brittain said that he was going to file a claim with Antonovich's
office for $5,000 per plant. Antonovich's office said Brittain has not
yet requested a claim form.

Brittain has had run-ins with the law before, at least once for
possessing marijuana and once for possession of an explosive device,
which blew up in his hand. Brittain said he was making noisemakers to
hide in his marijuana farm to warn him when thieves came to steal his
plants.

Robert said he spent 18 months in jail after being convicted for the
explosive.

"I went downhill fast. I spent most of my time in the hospital when I
was in jail," he said. "When I got out I was released into a hospice
and they didn't expect me to live much longer."

He said that in less than a year, he has improved his health and is
now up and walking around at home.

"When they got me to the hospice and got me hooked back up with
marijuana club, I was able to keep my medication down again," he said.
"My T-cells went from four to 200, which is still full-blown AIDS but
a lot better, and my viral load has gone from 950,000 to none."