CITY REFUSES TO PAY FOR DEAD POT PLANTS

The city of Fort Collins has rejected a local couple's request for
more than $200,000 in compensation for their destroyed marijuana
plants, possibly leading to a precedent-setting court fight.

Under the state's medical marijuana law, Amendment 20, the government
is supposed to maintain someone's marijuana plants if they are seized
as part of a criminal investigation. If the investigation reveals the
plants were properly kept as the law permits, the agency is supposed
to return them.

But when James and Lisa Masters got their 39 plants back last
December, they were all dead. Fort Collins police seized the plants
as part of a criminal investigation into the Masters' pot-growing
operation. The couple operates a medical marijuana dispensary in Fort
Collins and claimed they were legitimate caregivers for people who
need pot to control their pain and other ailments.

Judge James Hiatt threw out the case against the couple in 2006 after
ruling police illegally searched their home. Earlier this summer, the
couple promised to sue the city, but gave Fort Collins 90 days to
decide whether to simply pay up.

The city decided not to.

"... While the city of Fort Collins sincerely regrets your clients
believe they were damaged during the scope of duties by city
personnel, we are respectfully denying the claim ...," city Risk
Manager Lance Murray recently wrote to the couple's attorney, Rob Corry Jr.

The Masterses argue that their marijuana should have been treated
like a pet seized during an investigation. Just like police wouldn't
starve a dog, they argue, the city shouldn't have neglected their plants.

The couple could not produce valid medical marijuana caregiver
certificates at the time of their arrest, and Hiatt never ruled on
whether they were breaking the law by growing so many plants.
Amendment 20 permits people who register with the state health
department to grow small amounts for their own use.

Corry said he believes this case may the first in Colorado to
determine whether the government needs to compensate someone for
destroying their marijuana - a drug that remains illegal under
federal law. Corry said he believes Amendment 20, in conjunction with
the state's long-established property laws, requires the city to
compensate the Masterses.

"The law is very clear, and it also makes sense. It is so simple, and
it goes for any piece of property," Corry said. "... under similar
cases, the government has to compensate you for the property they
destroyed illegally."

Fort Collins police have declined to discuss the circumstances of the
case, citing the pending litigation. Larimer County Sheriff Jim
Alderden in his new Bull's-Eye briefing newsletter referred to
Amendment 20 as an "ill-conceived state law" and has previously said
his department will destroy marijuana seized from grow houses,
regardless of whether its owner claims medical use or not.

In an essay about humorous ways to raise money for his office,
Alderden wrote: "None of the law enforcement agencies on the Front
Range have a greenhouse, but we have the grow lights we've seized
from illegal grow operations so we could convert the vacated cell
block to an indoor grow operation. We could charge other agencies to
grow their dope, and if the case doesn't require us to return the
weed to the charged person, we could get a medical marijuana license
from the state and sell it for a profit. A win-win."