POT SEIZURE BRINGS INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT

Robert DeArkland may be the first Californian ever reimbursed for
seizure of his marijuana by police.

The 71-year-old Fair Oaks resident received $6,500 from his insurance
firm after proving his pot was medically authorized. The payoff has
angered some sheriff's deputies and surprised many insurance
officials. But DeArkland maintains he deserved it.

"I knew I had it coming," he said this week after getting the check
from CGU California Insurance. "They gave me $500 per plant, the
highest amount possible under my extra-protection policy."

His claim was settled almost 11 months after Placer and Sacramento
County sheriff's deputies raided his home and seized 13 marijuana
plants from his garage, ignoring his pleas that the pot was legal.

In 1996, voters approved Proposition 215 allowing medicinal use of
pot.

DeArkland, who has prostate cancer and arthritis, later was charged
with felony illegal possession and cultivation of marijuana.

But in April, after the Sacramento County district attorney dropped
the charges for lack of evidence, he filed a claim with CGU, which has
insured his home since 1995.

While DeArkland fully expected reimbursement, others were taken by
surprise.

"This is the first case of its kind the department has ever heard of,"
said Ryan Staley, a spokesman for the California Department of Insurance.

"This type of police seizure is not one of the 'named perils' that one
would see on a standard (insurance) policy," he said.

The DeArkland case likely broke new ground, agreed Dan Zielinski, of
the American Insurance Association, a lobbying group in Washington.
"It's a whole new situation in California," he said.

Steve Grippi, the Sacramento County prosecutor who handled the
DeArkland case, expressed disbelief. So did Sgt. Rick Gibson,
spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

"I would say he pulled a sham on the insurance company," Gibson said.
". . . There are plenty of other medications he can use to help ease
the pain of cancer."

But to Dale Gieringer, of NORML, the San Francisco-based National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, CGU's decision was
"wonderful."

"I think it's about time," he said. "It's unprecedented for an
insurance company to treat marijuana as legal property, which we
maintain it is under Proposition 215.

"If your drugs were stolen out of your medicine cabinet and you had
insurance for that, you would be entitled to compensation. Marijuana
should be no different. In our view, this is progress."

"It was the right thing to do," said Ryan Landers, 27, a medical
marijuana advocate in Sacramento. "I hope this makes law enforcement
wake up. If they have any inclination that marijuana plants might be a
medical garden, they need to investigate before they kill the plants."

When police burst into his home on Oct. 1, DeArkland said, he pointed
to several notes signed by his doctor. One of them said, "I have
evaluated Mr. DeArkland and have recommended that he use marijuana.
This recommendation is valid until Jan. 21, 2000."

The deputies ignored the notes, which were on his wall, he
said.

Receiving reimbursement from CGU wasn't easy, he said.

"I had to fight to get my $6,500," said DeArkland, who also received
an additional $660 from CGU to cover other raid-related damages, such
as a smashed-down front door.

CGU officials declined comment.

DeArkland, however, provided The Bee with correspondence he received
from CGU in response to his claim.

At first, CGU insurance questioned whether the plants had legally been
in his possession. Then, in a May 10 letter, GCU questioned whether
authorities had "stolen" the plants as DeArkland maintained.

"It appears . . . that a valid search warrant was used to confiscate
the plants, which may not be the same as stealing them," said the
letter, signed by a CGU official named L. Bruce Bogart. "We will be
continuing our investigation."

In the end, CGU decided the plants were covered by his "extra
protector plus" policy, which provides coverage for, among other
things, false arrest or wrongful entry, DeArkland said.

DeArkland filed a $10 million wrongful-arrest claim against Sacramento
County. It was rejected by the county. He tried to file a similar $25
million claim against Placer County -- but missed the deadline for
doing so, said Pete Sarellana, the county's director of risk management.

DeArkland said he plans to pursue his next option -- lawsuits.