DEA SEIZES MARIJUANA PLANTS FROM MEDICAL PERMIT HOLDER

A Linn County man announced he was going to sue the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Valley Interagency Narcotics Team after a federal
agent seized plants from his state-licensed marijuana garden.

Leroy Stubblefield, 52, of 38785 Mountain Home Dr., between Sweet Home and
Lebanon, is the first person in Oregon to have the federal government seize
state-licensed marijuana, according to the Portland-based Hemp and Cannabis
Foundation.

DEA Assistant Special Agent Kenny Magee said it was not the first time the
DEA has seized marijuana from persons with medical marijuana cards.

Stubblefield, a quadriplegic, and two of his caregivers, Scotty Russell and
Clarence VanDehay have medical marijuana permits, which cost $150 each.

They are permitted up to 21 plants under state law. DEA Special Agent
Michael Spasaro seized the 12 plants they had growing in a room in the
basement.

On Sept. 23, at about noon, "I was still in bed about to get up,"
Stubblefield said. He normally sleeps late. "I heard the guys pull into the
driveway."

Russell answered two officers, one identifying himself as a VALIANT
officer, at the door and took them to talk to Stubblefield.

They said they received a tip that Stubblefield was growing 100 marijuana
plants, Stubblefield said. They asked if they could see the plants.

"I told Scotty, go ahead and show them the plants," Stubblefield said.
After Russell took the officers downstairs to the garden, he heard raised
voices.

"Scotty came upstairs totally outraged and said they're going to take our
plants," Stubblefield said. After he calmed Russell down, one of the two
officers entered Stubblefield's bedroom and identified himself as DEA
Special Agent Michael Spasaro. He told Stubblefield he would be seizing the
plants.

"He said we can do one of two things," Stubblefield said. "First, you're
breaking federal law. It's against federal law ... and federal law
overrides state law. One, we could take the plants and leave, or second, we
can go and get a search warrant and come back."

If they returned with a search warrant, Stubblefield said, his home and
lights could have been seized.

Stubblefield said he chose the first option, to give up the plants.

"I was totally dumbfounded," Stubblefield said. "I obviously told him take
the plants. I was raised a law-abiding citizen. You give the law respect;
it's a two-way street.... Scotty pulled all the plants for him and carried
them out. We knew we were being violated.... We had a dirty taste in our
mouths."

The VALIANT officers declined to seize the marijuana based on state law,
Stubblefield said.

"It's federal law," Magee said. "To make a long story short, basically, the
DEA is charged with enforcing federal law. It's nothing new. It's federal
law and it's policy and the DEA is is required by federal law (to enforce
the law). When congress changes that federal law, then we'll abide by
whatever the law is changed to. The whole message to be delivered here:
It's federal law."

It is a federal law created and voted on by the citizens of the United
States, Magee said. "The merits they work on deal a lot with the practices
of the medical community and whether they view it (marijuana for example)
as legitimate or not. With that being said, the DEA itself consistently
recommends that studies be done on substances that may have medical use.
The medical community does allow a form of marijuana for pharmaceutical
use. That is Marinol."

There are alternative medications available, Magee said. Legitimate medical
associations, such as the American Medical Association, have not condoned
the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Stubblefield, Russell and VanDehay have not been charged for breaking
federal law.

"Any investigation, we do," Magee said. Decisions on charges are handled by
federal attorneys. In this case, it appears the offense did not reach the
threshold for charges.

"We pay $150 per year for our protection," Russell said. "That VALIANT guy
didn't do his job by telling him, no you can't take the plants. We're
allowed the plants. For a federal agent to come in and take our plants ...
I feel he robbed us, raped us.

"We the voters elected that to become law," Stubblefield said. On top of
that, the federal government is fighting Oregon's assisted suicide law,
which was approved twice by voters. "What does that say when the federal
government says you can't do that. What's it going to take to get the
government to listen to what we're saying?"

Paul Stanford of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, last week, contacted
Russell for an unrelated reason. Russell related the story about the
seizure to him.

"The next day, he came up and brought us some good smoke to help get by,"
Russell said. He also brought seven immature plants with him. They are
about two to two and a half months from harvest.

Most of the seized plants were about a month from harvest. One was
blooming, and one was curing.

Stubblefield said he uses marijuana to help his sleep apnea and
post-traumatic stress syndrome. He was paralyzed in an automobile accident
the day he returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam with the Coast Guard. He
had another major automobile accident in 1997, and smoking marijuana helps
reduce other medications he must take. He is more coherent on marijuana
than on methadone, for example. He smoked marijuana occasionally from about
1978 to 1986 before using it under Oregon Medical Marijuana Act approved by
voters in 1998.

Russell said he uses marijuana to help with his carpal tunnel. It helps
keep the spasms down. Russell has smoked marijuana since he 15 or 16 years old.

Stubblefield has not filed suit yet. He plans to sue for the value of the
lost plants and for mental damages.