JUDGE: RETURN MARIJUANA TO FORMER MARINE

A Colorado judge ruled Wednesday that police should return dozens of
marijuana plants to a former Marine and 1991 Persian Gulf War
veteran who is a licensed medical marijuana user.

"It's great -- I need my stuff back," said Kevin Dickes, 39, a
Denver-area construction worker who left the Marine Corps as a lance
corporal in 1993.

Aurora, Colo., police raided Dickes' home in April and seized plants
growing in his basement. He was handcuffed, arrested and charged
with a felony count of cultivating marijuana, which carries a
maximum sentence of six years in prison.

But last week, prosecutors dropped the charge after confirming that
Dickes is licensed to grow the plants under the Colorado state
medical marijuana laws that voters approved in 2000.

In early 1991, Dickes was with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, in Kuwait
helping to transport Iraqi prisoners of war when one of them
detonated a grenade that sprayed him with shrapnel.

Years later, doctors diagnosed him with a chronic vascular condition
that stems from his wartime injury and causes severe pain and
swelling in his leg. Earlier this year, he took his Department of
Veterans Affairs records to a Denver-area clinic and obtained the
growing license.

Arapahoe District Judge John Wheeler granted Dickes' motion
requesting return of his plants, but Dickes and his attorney are
skeptical that police have maintained the hydroponically grown
plants for eight months.

"I doubt they have the resources to have a grow room at the police
station. Are they going to pay some guy to sit there and take care
of my marijuana?" Dickes said in a telephone interview.

Growing marijuana takes time, care and expertise, he said, adding
that he may seek financial damages if police fail to deliver the
plants in good condition.

"We're going to get the property back, and then we'll make our
assessment as to whether compensation is warranted," said Dickes'
attorney, Robert Corry.

Police reports said they seized 71 plants, but Corry said it wasn't
that many because some of the plants were "clones" and not fully grown.

The Drug Enforcement Agency applies a price of $5,200 to each pound
of marijuana; if that standard applies, Dickes' plants could be
worth more than $100,000, depending on the weight.

Since police took his plants, Dickes said he has obtained marijuana
only sporadically from friends and "caregivers."