NO CHARGES FILED AFTER MARIJUANA PLANTS SEIZED FROM AIDS PATIENT

SCOTTS VALLEY - An apparent miscommunication between police and a medical
marijuana user last week led to seizure of the man's pot.

Scott's Valley firefighters were putting out a fire Aug. 11 on Lucinda
Drive when they spotted seven marijuana plants growing behind a shed on an
adjacent property. Police were called, and they approached the property
owner, 49- year-old Michael Joseph Dominguez.

Dominguez has AIDS and has a prescription to smoke marijuana. The
prescription is allowed under a state law that allows those with chronic
illness to legally smoke marijuana to ease their pain. California and
federal authorities have sparred for years over validity of the law.

Dominguez said he showed the officers his prescriptions, but the officers
cited him for cultivating marijuana, a possible felony, then confiscated
the plants.

Valerie Corral, director of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana,
the Santa Cruz pot club that Dominguez belongs to, said her group had
confirmed Dominguez's prescription. She added that he is allowed under the
state law to grow the seven plants for his own use.

She said she was surprised by the police action because her group in the
past has been treated well not only by Scotts Valley officers, but by
officers with most every law enforcement agency in the county.

Corral called new Scotts Valley Police Chief Steve Lind and explained the
situation.

Lind said it appears Dominguez had a legitimate prescription. He called the
citation a "miscommunication" centering on the fact police initially
encountered a caretaker on the property who refused to give officers any
information.

Lind said his department has no intention of cracking down on medical
marijuana users as long as they are following the law.

"We don't want to spend a lot of time on this," he said. "If they are
allowed by law to have it, that is good enough for me."

He said parts of the state law - including how much a person can grow and
what police should do when confronted by someone who claims to have medical
marijuana - are unclear, and that the state Legislature needs to go back
and make the law more explicit for police.

Assistant District Attorney Ton Ngo said once prosecutors verified
Dominguez had a valid prescription, they decided not to pursue any charges.

Dominguez said his plants had not budded and it is now too late to re-
plant them and get a crop, but Corral said the cooperative would help
supply him.