MARIJUANA GROUP SUES PROSECUTOR

Action Aims to Legitimize Transportation of Marijuana Among
Caregivers

A medicinal marijuana advocacy group has sued Flathead County Attorney
Ed Corrigan on behalf of two men facing felonies after a February
traffic stop yielded three pounds of marijuana.

The Montana Medical Growers Association is being represented by Tim
Baldwin, a Kalispell attorney who said Thursday that the goal of the
litigation is to establish that Montana's Medical Marijuana Act allows
registered caregivers to lawfully transport marijuana and its
paraphernalia to other caregivers.

He filed a complaint for declaratory judgment Wednesday in Flathead
District Court and said he hopes the case will set a precedent.

Corrigan said Thursday afternoon that he has not been served with the
lawsuit. He declined to comment.

According to Baldwin: "The primary goal is to clarify what the
medicinal marijuana act actually allows and, two, it's designed to
essentially enjoin... law enforcement and the county attorney's
office from prosecuting actions that we believe to be allowed."

The lawsuit calls for relief in the form of a judgment declaring it
legal for marijuana caregivers to transport marijuana to other
caregivers themselves or through an agent. It also asks that a judge
acknowledge that a caregiver can cultivate marijuana for other caregivers.

Though Baldwin declined to identify the plaintiffs, an attached
affidavit signed by attorney Chris Lindsey identified two of the men
as Leif Erickson and Robin Ruiz. They are identified in court
documents as Courier 1 and Courier 2, along with three additional
unidentified plaintiffs -- Caregiver 1, Caregiver 2 and Caregiver 3 --
who are described as witnesses.

Erickson and Ruiz were arrested by Flathead County Sheriff's Office
and Northwest Drug Task Force deputies after the vehicle in which they
were traveling was stopped on U.S. 2 near Lake Five Road on Feb. 3.

A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of three pounds of
marijuana, 300 capsules believed to contain THC -- tetrahydrocannabinol,
the active ingredient in marijuana -- and five vials of suspected THC
honey, according to court documents.

The men were driving to Great Falls to deliver the marijuana,
according to the Sheriff's Office.

They were arrested and subsequently charged by the Flathead County
Attorney's Office with criminal possession with intent to distribute --
a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.
They have both pleaded innocent.

One of them is a registered caregiver and the other a patient,
according to court documents.

Baldwin and Lindsey wrote in their initial filing that Northwest Drug
Task Force agent Dave Herman said in a March 15 interview that a
caregiver is not lawfully able to deliver, transport or transfer
marijuana or its paraphernalia to another caregiver.

"Numerous other Montana law enforcement agencies, including the
Attorney General of the state of Montana have expressed the same legal
presumption as expressed by Dave Herman," the lawsuit states. "Based
upon this legal presumption, many investigations, arrests and
prosecutions are being conducted and the rights, status and legal
relationship of caregivers in Montana and in Flathead County are in
real and actual risk, jeopardy and controversy."

Lindsey, who is representing Ruiz and Erickson in their criminal
cases, wrote in an affidavit attached to the lawsuit that the Montana
Attorney General's Office and the Department of Justice have provided
instruction to sheriff's offices and county attorney's offices
dictating that the Medical Marijuana Act does not allow for
caregiver-to-caregiver transfers.

Baldwin said his clients and other medical marijuana caregivers are
not only allowed to transport marijuana, but that they are required to
do so by the act.

"They have an obligation and a duty to make sure they care for their
patients," Baldwin said.

Baldwin said he believes the case, and others like it, will lead to
federal actions to limit government intrusion.

"There's going to be a clash between federal and state ideology,"
Baldwin said.

Baldwin recently moved to Flathead County from Florida along with
several members of his family, including his father, former
Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin.

He recently wrote a column posted on the website www.newswithviews.com
in which he criticized America's overall enforcement of laws
pertaining to marijuana. In the column, he criticized the recent
federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries and wrote that the
plant should be made legal.

Drawing on his experience as a prosecutor, he wrote that, "I see the
absurdity of the 'war on marijuana.' During my time as prosecutor at
the Florida State Attorney's Office from 2004 to 2006 where I handled
literally thousands of criminal cases and tried nearly 60 jury trials,
I was never impressed that marijuana was the cause of any criminal
activity."

In the lawsuit, the attorneys also ask that a hearing be held on the
matter and that they be granted reasonable attorneys' fees.

Baldwin said he will file a supplement to the lawsuit detailing the
provisions of Montana's law that allow caregivers to transport
marijuana to other caregivers soon.