POT RETURNED - ALL 4 POUNDS OF IT

Medi-Pot Dispensary Operator Had Been Arrested a Year Ago

Daniel Sosa didn't know what to expect when he flew into Crescent
City on Friday to pick up 4 pounds of marijuana.

Sosa had a 2 p.m. appointment with the Del Norte County Sheriff's
Office to get back marijuana that was confiscated in February 2009
during a routine traffic stop.

His appointment, and the subsequent handoff, was a first for both
Sosa and the Sheriff's Office.

"This is the first time we've released that quantity of marijuana,"
said sheriff's Commander Tim Athey. "It's not something we like to do."

According to Sosa, who operates two medical marijuana dispensaries in
Las Angeles, it took a call from his lawyer to the Sheriff's Office
before the marijuana was released.

"I went into the office and tried the phone but got voice-mail," Sosa
said. "My lawyer said that I had a 2 p.m. appointment, it only took
an extra 15 minutes or so before the evidence officer came out."

Sosa said that the evidence officer, Deputy John Olson, directed him
to wait in his car down the block from the Sheriff's Office.

"It seemed weird," Sosa said. "I was worried that they were going to
arrest me again."

As Sosa waited across the street from the Sheriff's Office parking
lot, Olson wheeled out a shopping cart with a cardboard box
containing the 4 pounds of pot.

"It was surreal," Sosa said. "There we are on the street, and we are
going over an evidence sheet and pulling out bags of medicine. I mean
we were just on the street."

According to Athey, the only odd part of the exchange was the fact
that so much marijuana was being returned.

"We always release anything with any kind of weight out there," Athey
said. "It's right outside the evidence locker door, it's secure and
we don't want people getting injured carrying stuff up the stairs. In
some cases if the object to be returned is heavy enough we actually
have people back up to the door."

Sosa was arrested in February 2009 after being pulled over for a
broken headlight.

Law enforcement officers smelled marijuana when they approached the
car and a subsequent search produced approximately $7,000 in cash and
more than 4 pounds of processed marijuana.

"This has been dragging on for a long time," Sosa said. "The DA
(District Attorney's Office) kept trying to make a deal, but I
refused anything that didn't include a dismissal and getting the
medicine returned."

According to Sosa, the DA's Office offered to plead down to a
misdemeanor, then to an infraction, before the matter was finally
settled in a deal where Sosa forfeited $4,500 of the approximately
$7000 he was carrying, but received all of the marijuana back.

"I believe that this upholds the credibility of cannabis dispensing
collectives in Del Norte County," Sosa said. "It's a great example of
California law being upheld like it should."

Neither Athey nor District Attorney Mike Riese expressed happiness at
releasing such a large amount of marijuana.

"We were required to release the money and the marijuana because of a
plea bargain reached by the DA and Sosa's lawyer," Athey said. "While
we had to do it, it still doesn't seem right and it would be nice to
get some of these laws finally figured out."

Riese agrees that the California medical marijuana laws are a source
of confusion for law enforcement.

"Ultimately Sosa had all the right financial documents and could show
that he was within Proposition 215 (the medical marijuana
legislation)," Riese said. "This issue really needs to be clarified
in the courts, because so far we have gotten some decent guidance on
how to proceed and some terrible guidance."

"We've had cases at the state level that clarify the issue and then
cases that have made it even more difficult to decide what is legal
and what isn't," Riese said.