MEDICAL MARIJUANA: DRUG BUST SPARKS QUESTIONS OVER LAW

Man in Wheelchair Faces Possible Federal Drug Charges After Raid

MALAGA, N.M. -- Agents with a regional drug task force raided Leonard
French's home in southeastern New Mexico on Tuesday and seized
several marijuana plants.

But the wheelchair-bound man said he's certified by the state Health
Department to possess and smoke marijuana for medical reasons. The
44-year-old lost the use of his legs about 20 years ago as the result
of a motorcycle crash and now suffers from chronic pain and muscle spasms.

French allowed the agents into his home in Malaga, just north of the
New Mexico-Texas border, because he said he believed he was doing
nothing wrong. He had worked with his doctor and the state to get
permission to have marijuana.

"I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place," he told
Albuquerque television station KOB-TV on Tuesday. "It makes me feel
like the state says, 'Here you go. Here's your license to drive,' and
the first time I left the driveway, they took my car away."

While no charges have been filed against French, the Pecos Valley
Drug Task Force said federal drug charges are possible.

Allan Oliver, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson, said authorities
targeting a paraplegic man suffering from a spinal cord injury is "a
policy without compassion."

"As long as Mr. French was within the limits of the medical marijuana
state law, we urge the (Drug Enforcement Administration) not to
prosecute him," Oliver said late Tuesday. "U.S. attorneys have their
hands full with real drug cases and border violations, and can't
afford to waste taxpayer dollars to prosecute individuals who are
critically ill or suffering from debilitating conditions."

The task force stated in a news release that agents did not know
French had state permission to use marijuana until after the raid.

Deborah Busemeyer, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of
Health, confirmed that officers called the agency after the raid to
verify the man's state-issued marijuana identification card. Each
card has the department's telephone number and a special code.

"This is a sad story because we want patients who need medical
marijuana to have it," she said. "A lot of these people have chronic
pain and other illnesses, and this is their only relief."

A state law that took effect this summer allows the use of marijuana
for pain or other symptoms of debilitating illnesses such as cancer,
glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV-AIDS and certain spinal
cord injuries.

The department has been certifying patients as eligible to possess
marijuana. That protects the individuals from state prosecution, but
leaves them to find their own supply of marijuana -- potentially
growing it themselves or obtaining it from friends or drug dealers.

Busemeyer said 38 patients have been approved to participate in the
program since the law took effect July 1.

She stressed the state law does not protect those in the program from
federal prosecution.

"Some patients are nervous about federal prosecution," she said.
"Other states (with medical marijuana laws) have experienced that
federal agencies haven't gone after patients. But again, we can't
provide protection against federal law."

New Mexico is the 12th state to legalize marijuana for certain
medical uses, but it's the only one where the law calls for
state-licensed production and distribution of the drug.

The department announced earlier this month that it would not
implement the law's provisions for the agency to oversee the
production and distribution of marijuana to eligible patients because
of concerns over the potential for federal prosecution against state employees.

Richardson, who is running for the Democratic presidential
nomination, has ordered the department to resume planning for a
medical marijuana program, and a public hearing on the matter is
planned this fall.

French is apparently not the first person in the state's medical
marijuana program to catch the attention of law enforcement.
Busemeyer said a similar incident occurred recently in another part
of the state, but she could not provide details.

Law enforcement agencies have asked the department if it could inform
them about patients who are certified to have marijuana, but
Busemeyer said doing so would violate federal patient privacy laws.