POLICE TOLD TO RETURN MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The Portland Police Bureau usually takes drugs off the street. Now it is
being asked to give them back. A Circuit Court judge has ordered the bureau
to return marijuana to Samuel Nim Kama, a Southeast Portland man who wants
the drug to treat his debilitating medical conditions.

The bureau says it would be violating federal law if it released the drugs,
and the Portland City Council will decide today whether to appeal the
court's decision. A year after Oregon voters approved the medical use of
marijuana, the case may be the first in the county, and possibly the state,
in which police have been told to return narcotics to an individual, the
Multnomah County district attorney's office said.

Meanwhile, the Portland Police Bureau thinks it has its hands tied. Federal
law states it can't distribute illegal substances.

"It's almost hypocritical for us to do something that is contrary to the
laws we were sworn to uphold," said Capt. James C. Ferraris, commander of
the drug and vice division.

Judge Robert Redding's ruling in October was one the first tests of the
Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, said Richard White, Kama's attorney.

"It does set a precedent in that it legitimizes the law in the eye of the
court," White said.

During the proceedings, White argued that police were wrong in taking the
drug from his client, who had medical reasons for using it. The judge
ordered only a small amount of the drug to be returned.

Kama could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and White would not disclose
his client's medical conditions.

The legal fracas began in January when police, searching a Southeast
Portland residence, made a substantive find: a 71-plant marijuana crop,
manufacturing equipment, two pounds of marijuana in the freezer, a scale
and several boxes of plastic bags.

While officers were at the residence, Kama arrived and voluntarily turned
over marijuana he was carrying, according to a motion filed with Multnomah
County Circuit Court.

Richard Allen LeBus, who lived at the residence with his wife, later
pleaded guilty to manufacturing a controlled substance as a commercial drug
offense. His wife, Marla Jean Jackson, pleaded guilty to possession of a
controlled substance with substantial quantities.

Kama, who does not live at the residence, has not been charged with a crime.

At the time of the incident, Kama did not have a registration card to use
marijuana for medical purposes. Although the medical-marijuana law had
already gone into effect, the Oregon Health Division had not yet begun
distributing the cards.

Kama's attorney later filed a motion demanding the return of some of the
drugs taken. The marijuana, White argued, was necessary to mitigate the
symptoms and effects of Kama's medical conditions. Some of the plants were
being grown for Kama, White said.

The district attorney's office countered the defense's motion, saying the
police would be violating federal law if they released any of the drugs or
other items taken. Additionally, the marijuana was largely unusable: The
plants had been dead for months and some of them were dry and brittle.

Redding ruled that most of the seized items were part of a commercial drug
operation and could not be released. He also ruled, however, that Kama
could have the marijuana he was carrying.

Police in other jurisdictions besides Portland have been challenged to
return marijuana to people because of the act passed last year, said Kelly
Paige, manager of the medical marijuana program for the health division of
the state Department of Human Resources.