Ex-suspects want police to pay for dead marijuana plants

Ahmad Terry / Rocky Mountain News
PICTURE: THE RESULT: James Masters shows evidence bags containing some of his medical marijuana that was ruined for lack of care while held by authorities.
After the case against the Colorado couple fell apart, they were given back their seized property — which had gone unmaintained in a police evidence room.
By DeeDee Correll, Special to The Times
September 21, 2008
DENVER — When the Fort Collins police arrested James and Lisa Masters and carted away their 39 marijuana plants, they put the plants where they normally put confiscated property involved in alleged crimes: the evidence room.

And there they sat, without a grow lamp, water or pruning.

A year later, the case against the Masterses — who claimed they used the drug for medical purposes — fell apart, and a judge ordered the police to return their property.

“All the plants were dead,” said Brian Vicente, one of the attorneys for the couple. “Some had turned to liquid — this black, moldy liquid. There was mold over everything.”

Incensed, the couple asked the Police Department to reimburse them $200,000 for the destroyed plants. City officials refused, and the Masterses are now considering a lawsuit to compel the northern Colorado city to compensate them.

Of the 12 states that have legalized marijuana for medical use, Colorado stands out for its law specifying that police must not “harm, neglect or destroy” seized plants in such cases, said Noah Mamber, legal services coordinator for Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group.

But in the eight years since voters approved the law, no law enforcement agency has had to grapple with that aspect of it, said attorneys familiar with medical marijuana cases.

“There’s not a whole lot of case law on this, frankly,” Vicente said.

Many situations are resolved without police seizing the plants because it becomes apparent to police that the suspect is authorized to have marijuana, said Rob Corry, another attorney for the Masterses.

In other states, police often destroy the plants during or after an arrest. But that may be changing, Mamber said. He cited a recent case in Burlingame, Calif., where police found a number of marijuana plants and confiscated them until they could find the owner and ascertain whether he was a medical marijuana user. He was.

Police in that case kept the plants less than a week. They didn’t water or tend them during that time, Burlingame Police Capt. Mike Matteucci said, adding that the department is not equipped to serve as a nursery.

The outcome of the Colorado case, he said, could help define law enforcement’s responsibilities in such matters. “It’s uncharted waters here,” Matteucci said.

In 2006, James Masters and his wife, Lisa, were arrested on suspicion of felony cultivation and intent to distribute. At the time, they were growing marijuana for themselves and for at least five other people with medical problems, their attorneys said. Lisa Masters, 33, has fibromyalgia and tendinitis; her husband, 31, suffers from chronic nausea and pain from knee and hip problems, Corry said.

Both had doctors’ recommendations that they ingest marijuana for their medical issues, but they had not joined the state’s registry, Vicente said, because they could not afford the $110 fee.

Those in the registry may possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana and as many as six plants, and caregivers may keep up to six plants for each person in their care. Because the Masterses were also serving as caregivers, Vicente said, they were allowed to have the 39 plants.

Because the Masterses weren’t listed in the registry, police treated the plants as they would evidence in any other drug case, said Fort Collins police spokeswoman Rita Davis.

“At the time they were confiscated, they didn’t have documents to prove it was medical marijuana. They have to have some proof,” Davis said.

The Masterses’ attorneys maintain that the law doesn’t require people to produce documentation when claiming the marijuana is medicinal.

The law says that property should not be neglected or destroyed in cases “where such property has been seized in connection with the claimed medical use of marijuana.” It does not specify a criminal penalty when the law is not followed.

In any event, Corry said, the Masterses did provide paperwork showing their doctors’ recommendations that they use marijuana.

A judge eventually dismissed the charges, ruling that the police search had been illegal. Until then, the Masterses, who have since joined the state registry, continued to use marijuana provided to them by others, Vicente said. He argued that police should care for the plants they take just as they would an animal or child removed from a home.

“If the police take your pit bull, do they put it in an evidence locker for two months or do they take care of it?” Vicente said. “We plan on holding the police accountable. We’re talking about people’s medicine here.”

deedee.correll@latimes.com

CU Student Gets Marijuana Back From Campus Police
Student Is Medical-Marijuana Cardholder
By Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter

Link for Video: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/17529410/detail.html

POSTED: 11:19 am MDT September 22, 2008
UPDATED: 11:57 pm MDT September 22, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. — A University of Colorado student, who was suspended last May for possessing marijuana in his dorm room, got his cannabis back from campus police Monday.

“We liberated this medical marijuana today,” said Cole Nicholson’s attorney, Robert Corry.

Nicholson, now a sophomore, was celebrating as he exited police headquarters, but he told 7NEWS that this summer was stressful.

“I was worried about whether I’d be allowed to come back to school,” he said.

Nicholson was suspended from CU last semester when a security guard smelled marijuana in the basement of Libby Hall.

“I remember a night security officer told me it didn’t matter if I had a hemp card,” Nicholson said. “He didn’t want me smoking in my room. I told him I wasn’t.”

The CU sophomore said that security officers started harassing him early in the morning.

“They would knock on my door until I woke up,” he said. “I would answer the door in my underwear and talk with them and tell them that their noses were deceiving them, that the smell was not coming from my room.”

School officials handed down the suspension.

Nicholson said he was told he had to complete 24 hours community service, submit to random drug and alcohol tests, and write a so-called “reflection paper” on the subject of how marijuana use can negatively impact academics.

“That was an extreme violation of the first amendment,” Corry said. “To force the man to say something he doesn’t believe in.”

Corry said after he was hired, the Boulder District Attorney dismissed all charges, and CU reversed the entire suspension and fully reinstated Nicholson.

“I wish I had a chance to talk to the two police officers who handed me the ticket and were so sure I would never get this back,” Nicholson said. “But unfortunately they’re not here.”

Campus police did not return a call seeking comment about this case.

Nicholson said he does not use the marijuana himself but is registered to dispense it as a caregiver.

The CU student said his brother, who lives in Aurora, uses the marijuana for chronic debilitating pain.

When asked why his brother can’t get his own medical marijuana, Nicholson said, “Because it’s easier to get it here (in Boulder) and it’s cheaper.”

Copyright 2008 by TheDenverChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CU police return marijuana to student
Advocates tout ‘victory’ for patients and caregivers
By Vanessa Miller, Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/sep/22/cu-police-return-marijuana-student/
Monday, September 22, 2008

Photo by Mark Leffingwell

Edward Nicholson, sophomore, holds up the bag of marijuana that was confiscated from him last winter at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado September 22, 2008. Nicholson is registered caregiver for his brother and carries a state-issued medical-marijuana card. CAMERA/Mark Leffingwell

Outside the University of Colorado Police Department on Monday, cheers erupted from a crowd of marijuana advocates — some of whom were dressed as giant pot leaves — when a student was given back medical marijuana that police took from him in May.

“I wish I had a chance to talk to the officers who said I’d never get this back,” said CU sophomore Edward Nicholson, 20, who’s a medical-marijuana cardholder in Colorado.

CU police confiscated about 2 ounces of marijuana from Nicholson in his residence hall last spring, even though the then-freshman has a card legally certifying him to hold and administer the drug to his brother. Nicholson said his brother suffers from chronic, debilitating pain from football injuries and has been prescribed marijuana to help deal with the discomfort.

Nicholson faced criminal charges for drug possession and was suspended from CU over the summer. But, after he hired an attorney and threatened to sue CU, the school has dropped its case against him and changed its rules.

CU hasn’t changed its policy against campus drug possession, but students living on campus who hold medical-marijuana cards can now request to move off campus to avoid school punishment if they are found with the drug. Someone with a card who is living on campus still will be held to the no-drugs policy at CU.

Nicholson was certified to be a caregiver for his brother more than a year ago because, he said, it’s easier and cheaper to get marijuana in Boulder than in Aurora, where his family lives.

After police confiscated Nicholson’s marijuana, CU ordered him to serve 24 hours of community service and submit to drug and alcohol testing in addition to his suspension. He also was told to write a “reflection” paper about the harmful effects of marijuana on his schooling.

Three days before the fall semester began in August, Nicholson learned that CU had dropped his case and he would be allowed to remain a student. He also learned that officers would give him back the marijuana they confiscated.

When Nicholson left CU’s police department Monday with a large, half-full bag of marijuana, a small crowd cheered. One man, who had a large silver marijuana leaf around his neck, raised his arms in victory.

“I’m hoping he’ll whip it out and let us all smoke a joint,” said Kyle Marsh, who’s making a documentary on medical marijuana.

Nicholson’s attorney, Robert Corry, said he’s glad to have helped educate a law enforcement agency on Colorado’s marijuana law, which passed in 2000.

“Today, CU police had to go back to school,” Corry said.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said Nicholson’s case “underscores the difficulties that institutions face in confronting a new law and reconciling that new law with our needs on campus to be drug-free.”

From the enforcement side, CU police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said his officers did nothing wrong.

“We’re just doing our best job to enforce the law and follow the provisions of the law, as confusing as they might be,” Wiesley said.

About 1,955 people have medical-marijuana cards in Colorado, according to state health department statistics from last year.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers didn’t comment Monday on CU’s decision to clear Nicholson and give him back the marijuana officers took. But, attorney general spokesman Nate Strauch said, Suthers believes the law is “vaguely written” and has “led to problems for law enforcement.”

Student fights CU over hazy marijuana law
“I was never really worried about the court case because I was following the state law.”

By Allison Sherry
The Denver Post
Article Created: 09/20/2008 07:54:31 PM MDT

A University of Colorado at Boulder student who has a medical-marijuana card will be given his pot back by campus police Monday.

CU officials relented when threatened with a lawsuit after campus police confiscated less than 2 ounces of pot from Edward Nicholson’s dorm room, and officials threatened him with suspension.

Nicholson, 20, said he was holding the drug for his 23-year-old brother, a chronic- pain sufferer.

State law allows doctor-recommended marijuana use for those “suffering from debilitating medical conditions.” Caregivers of patients must carry state-issued medical-marijuana cards.

Nicholson is the cardholder because he says pot is easier to buy in Boulder than in Aurora, where his family lives.

The ordeal started last winter when an officer smelled pot in Nicholson’s dorm lockbox during a room walk-through on winter break. When Nicholson brandished his registry card, that officer didn’t cite him.

But in February and March, Nicholson said he was awakened several nights in a row by CU-Boulder police officers who said they could smell pot coming from his room. Nicholson said he doesn’t smoke pot and called the late-night door knocks obnoxious.

“They were on an unbelievable power trip,” he said.

CU officials couldn’t talk about the case, citing student privacy laws.

In May, campus authorities threatened to suspend him for a semester, to commit him to community service and drug and alcohol testing, and make him write a paper about the harmful effects of the drug on his schooling.

After Nicholson hired lawyer Robert Corry, who threatened a lawsuit, CU officials threw the case out.

“They didn’t do any harm to me, but they sure tried,” said Nicholson, who is now in his second year at CU and living off-campus. “I was never really worried about the court case because I was following the state law.”

CU officials revised their policies this fall to accommodate the 8-year- old medical-marijuana law.

CU students — even medical-pot cardholders — are not allowed to store the drug in dorms. But officials say they’ll release first-year students from the on-campus residency requirement if they are cardholders “at their prerogative,” said CU lawyer Jeremy Hueth, who worked on Nicholson’s case.

“If they (medical-marijuana cardholders) would rather move off campus . . . we’re not going to penalize them for it,” he said.

There are 1,955 cardholders in Colorado, according to last year’s statistics from the state health department.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement responding to the CU case Friday that the medical-marijuana law has become a “front for widespread marijuana distribution.”

“The proponents of these laws make them intentionally ambiguous, causing significant problems for law enforcement in Colorado and elsewhere,” he said.

Allison Sherry: 303-954-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com