MAN TO FIGHT TO REGAIN MARIJUANA STASH, AGAIN

In what may be a first, the Kern County Sheriff's Department on
Tuesday returned marijuana it seized in a raid.

But many hours later, sheriff's officials took back the weed. Deputies
came to Victor Allen Love's home a little after 10 p.m. Tuesday night,
he said, and confiscated six large bags of pot, which he had picked up
that morning from the department's property room.

"Well, pop my bubble," he said in disappointment.

Love, who was acquitted by a jury of marijuana charges in February,
has a doctor's recommendation for the drug, which he says he uses as
medicine.

Last week, after numerous trips to court asking for his property and
filing a $53,000 claim against the county, Love received a letter from
the Sheriff's Department saying he could come pick up his marijuana at
the property room in Bakersfield.

"I went to the right pile and stirred the right flies," said Love, 55.
"I'm sorry to say that's how it is."

But Sheriff Mack Wimbish said later that a mistake was made. "It is an
error in releasing the marijuana. We should not be doing that," he
said.

The sheriff said at the time he didn't know if the department would
try to reclaim the bags of pot.

Love said he would talk to the judge at his next hearing to see if he
can get the pot back.

Love, a leader of the local branch of the Church of Here and Now, was
in a spry mood when he went to retrieve his weed earlier in the day,
despite suffering from arthritis, gout and asthma.

"I haven't had any good medicine since they arrested me," he
said.

Authorities believed Love was selling pot out of his Mountain Mesa
home and arrested him last September on suspicion of cultivation and
possession for sales. They uprooted and seized more than a dozen
plants from his backyard garden.

A jury acquitted Love of the charges, but authorities did not return
the giant sacks of marijuana plants they took.

Love went to the property room Tuesday wearing his standard blue denim
overalls and a big smile.

"This is something I never thought would happen," he
said.

"I'm just happy to get my medicine back so we can live a fair quality
of life," he said after loading the seven large bags into his vehicle.
He said most of it was unusable because of mold, but at least he got
it back.

"Yes, it's in there," he said, smelling a piece he plucked off the
plant.

He said living without his supply was difficult for him and his
girlfriend, Deborah Peugh.

"I get in so much pain I want to cut my hands off. I want to cut my
feet off," he said recentlyat his home after tending to a freshly
planted marijuana garden.

After Love beat the charges, he became a sort of go-to guy for other
medicinal marijuana users in Kern.

"I felt like it was about time," he said of his acquittal. "A big
weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

Since then, Love hosted a "Weedstock" gathering of medicinal marijuana
users and advocates and said dozens of people from all over the
country have called seeking advice.

Bill Hause of Bodfish said he called Love when he saw an article about
his acquittal. Hause, who suffers from liver failure, recently moved
from San Diego and wanted to know more about the local medicinal
marijuana scene. He said doctors told him that traditional
prescription pain medications could cause him to fall into a coma, he
said.

Love told him of a doctor he could see and about the
laws.

"He was telling me we have patients' rights," Hause said. "He's a
pretty sharp guy.

"I don't think any patient should have to suffer some brutal assault
by the Sheriff's Department," Hause added. "I think that patients
should be protected by the law, not hassled by the law."

Love had professed his innocence all along, saying that he did
everything in his power to follow the law. He had a current doctor's
recommendation. He put up signs in the yard that said he was growing
marijuana for medical purposes and listed how much he was allowed
under the law.

But he was thrown in jail because authorities believed he was selling
it.

"It didn't seem to make a difference whether you follow the letter of
the law or not," he said.

His doctor traveled from Northern California and testified that she
gave Love and his girlfriend a written recommendation to use pot.
Marijuana charges against Peugh, who was arrested after Love, were
dismissed following his acquittal.

Love has a formal court hearing set for next week, where he is seeking
another box he said was not returned. In the meantime, he said he
wanted to make sure authorities were aware of the law.

"How can I be jailed if I follow the law?" he said.