CHP RETURNS SEIZED MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Hollister - After refusing to obey a court order to return a Los
Angeles-area man's medical marijuana for months, the Gilroy-Hollister
California Highway Patrol decided last week to return the pot it
confiscated during a 2004 traffic stop on Highway 156.

The decision came just eight days before a contempt of court hearing
was scheduled to determine if area CHP Commander Otto Knorr had
violated a San Benito County Superior Court order by not returning
the marijuana. In December, local defense attorney Greg LaForge
argued before Judge Steven Sanders that Knorr should return the 4
grams of medical marijuana, or face the possibility of being held in
contempt of court because a judge had already issued a court order
mandating the marijuana be returned.

"It's clearly a victory, a court order is a valuable tool and nobody
is above the law, especially law enforcement officers themselves,"
LaForge said Monday. "I think (Knorr) is out of touch with his own
department's guidelines, it should have never been set for a hearing."

Knorr previously told the Free Lance that while California recognizes
marijuana as a medicine under certain instances, the federal
government does not. He had said that he was stuck in an apparent
Catch-22 between the two laws and had no authority to distribute
marijuana for any purpose.

But last Thursday, LaForge received a letter from Miguel Neri, a
California deputy attorney general, which stated the marijuana taken
from 28-year-old Eugene Popok, would be returned. CHP officers had
seized the marijuana from Popok during a traffic stop for speeding in
October of 2004. LaForge does not know what ailment his client
suffers requiring the use of medical marijuana.

"This matter raised a number of novel legal issues that necessarily
required further analysis by the California Highway Patrol," Neri
wrote in the letter. "After such deliberation, the California Highway
Patrol has decided in this instance to return Mr. Popok's claimed
medical marijuana."

Knorr declined to comment on the decision or how it was reached.

"A decision was made and that's all I have to say," he said.

LaForge said that instead of refusing to return the marijuana, Knorr
should have immediately contact his boss or the attorney general for
direction on the matter.

San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield was not involved
in the legal battle, but said that he could sympathize with Knorr.

"He had to choice between violating a state law and a federal law,"
Sarsfield said. "What it really comes down to is the medical
marijuana law is extremely poorly written and needs to be clarified
otherwise this will continue to happen."

Sarsfield suggested the county Health Department look into issuing
identification cards for medical marijuana users. If Popok had
presented a valid ID card to CHP officers at the time of his arrest,
the matter could have been avoided, Sarsfield said.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, was not surprised by the CHP's decision
to return the marijuana.

"It's a situation where law enforcement need not be so pigheaded," he
said. "This has happened all throughout California, but in their mind
they don't have to follow the law."

St. Pierre sees the decision as a victory for medical marijuana
advocacy groups, but said more still needs to be done to protect the
rights of prescription marijuana users.

"It's keeping with the precedent," he said. "In the end, the county,
town or state has to return the marijuana."

However, St. Pierre did worry about the condition the marijuana. If
not stored correctly, the marijuana could breakdown rapidly and lose
it's medicinal value, St. Pierre said.

"(Popok) could be getting back medicine that may not be of any use to
him. This guy may have more or less been ripped off of $40 to $50
worth of marijuana," St. Pierre said. "But he could have fought a
good legal battle for symbolic purposes rather than being able to
enjoy the therapeutic benefits of the medicine."

Popok will have 60 days to claim the 4 grams of marijuana, according
to a letter sent to him by Knorr last week.

"He should get back what was taken from him," LaForge said. "Now his
concern is that he has to spend another $350 to fly back up here to get it."