MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE TAKES INTERESTING TWIST

Charges have been dismissed against a man caught with 22 marijuana plants,
and that's a big victory for medical marijuana proponents, his lawyer says.

Not so, says the Denver District Attorney's Office, which this month asked
that drug charges be dismissed against James Scruggs because the evidence
was likely insufficient to win a conviction.

Police responded to Scruggs' home in November on a domestic violence call.
They didn't find sufficient evidence of domestic violence but did find the
marijuana.

Scruggs has Crohn's disease, which causes intestinal bleeding and severe
pain. He had a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana under the state's
year-old medical marijuana statute, said his lawyer, Warren Edson, but
Scruggs lacked a state-issued authorization card.

The dismissal of charges "is an interesting comment from the Denver DA's
office," Edson said. "People who originally read the statute think you're
only allowed 2 ounces or six plants. But they don't read to the part that
says you can have more if necessary. It's a clear recognition that some
people need more -- significantly more."

The dismissal of charges doesn't mean that 22 plants is OK for someone with
a medical marijuana card, DA's spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said.

The DA's case hinged on proving there were 22 plants, she said.

Deputy DA Adrienne Greene asked that charges be dismissed because
photographs didn't clearly indicate the number of plants.

"Our interpretation of the statute is such that if we could have proven
there were 22 plants, we probably could have proven the charges," Kimbrough
said.