SpiralArchitect

Police return pot to patient almost 3 years later
9/16/2008|Orange County Register|Cindy Carcamo, photos by H. Lorren Au Jr.

HUNTINGTON BEACH – It was like Christmas Day for Jim Spray. He giggled with glee as he tore into brown paper bags as if they were presents.

Jim Spray, left, departs Huntington Beach police headquarters Tuesday. Marvin Chavez, a medical marijuana advocate, helps him carry out bags of Spray's seized medical marijuana. Huntington Beach police returned marijuana-related property confiscated in November 2005 back to Spray.

These bags, however, were filled with jars of his medical marijuana and other paraphernalia that had been stored for nearly three years at the city's police department.

A court order today forced officials to give it back, marking the second time in a year that Huntington Beach police have had to return seized marijuana to a patient after court rulings stated that the marijuana should not have been seized in the first place.

"That's a chunk of hash," said Spray, a 52-year-old trade show decorator from Huntington Beach. A tall, stocky police official watched as the medical marijuana patient inspected a tiny, eye shadow-sized container full of hashish.

FOR MEDICAL USE: Jim Spray holds a bottle of hashish seized in November 2005. An appellate court sided with Spray on the his medical use of the plant and ordered police to return the plants and items taken.

"It's still good. I almost forgot about all this," said Spray, who uses medical marijuana because of pain from a herniated disc.

It has been almost three years since Huntington Beach officers confiscated Spray's estimated 4 ounces of marijuana and a $1,000 growing system, which included special lighting and a water-timing system.

While police had destroyed most of the growing equipment, officials returned Spray's marijuana today after an order from Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris.

The order came nearly nine months after the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the city must return Spray's marijuana and equipment taken from his home in November 2005. Spray was represented by attorneys with medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

The Huntington Beach Police Department doesn't have a policy regarding medical marijuana, officials have said in the past. Officers interpret the Compassionate Use Act as protecting medical marijuana recipients from prosecution, not arrest.

The 1996 law allows people to use medical marijuana in California. Federal law, however, outlaws all marijuana use.

On Aug. 25, state Attorney General Jerry Brown developed guidelines for the first time since the passing of the act. The most notable guideline upholds the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries that operate as nonprofit cooperatives or collectives.

In addition, the new directive essentially tells law enforcement officials that they cannot take marijuana from medical marijuana patients in the first place and are not allowed to charge them if they are carrying less than 8 ounces.

Agencies, such as Huntington Beach, however, are still trying to figure out what to make of Brown's directive, since it is opinion and not law, officials said.

About six months ago, Dave Lucas of Huntington Beach also retrieved his purple urkel – a higher-end marijuana – and a couple of smoking pipes officers confiscated from him more than a year ago.

Lucas retrieved his medical marijuana in April, after waiting for the California Supreme Court to decline to review an appellate court ruling, which ordered Garden Grove police to return seized medical marijuana to Felix Kha.

In November, Kha won the right to get his medical marijuana returned to him. A month later, the same court also ruled in Spray's favor.

"Hopefully, they'll stop taking people's medicine away," Spray said today out loud in the police lobby.

Spray said he plans to file a claim against Huntington Beach because of his destroyed marijuana growing equipment. Medical marijuana advocates Bill Britt and Marvin Chavez Sr., who were there for support, helped Spray with the about half a dozen bags of once-seized pot.

CHECKING: Bill Britt, left, and Jim Spray, center, inventory Spray's seized medical marijuana-related property while Marvin Chavez checks the condition of the plants.

"Do you know how much of a pleasure it is to take medicine from the department?'' said Chavez, a medical marijuana patient and advocate. "It's such a victory."

[News Note: This truly is a victory. It put a smile on my face. There are more pictures and a comment section on at the main article page. ]

__________________
.

Vicki

Nice, he got his medicine back!!

I hope it wasn't dried out too badly after 3 years.

__________________
Be kinder than necessary as everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Save the Wand Hash!
Hungry? Non-Cannabis Recipes
Want real free samples?
Those that forget the past are condemned to re-live it.
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man."
~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

king cola

Yeah I agree, the hash was probably fine but if they didn't have the pot stored properly it might not be as good as it was 3 years ago.

If the courts aren't going to prosecute marijuana patients and just order the marijuana to be brought back to the patients then there is no point for the cops to continue to arrest marijuana patients.

Vicki

Two words: Power trip.

goodkush

yess dude!
Marijuana:1 Haters: 0

Mikeebud

Good to hear, I really love When The people have Victory of the Mary jane Haters :P

GREENFOODGAMES

That's messed up that they ruined his grow equipment, and you know that weed is gonna be harsh and burn fast after three year's of improper storage, not to mention the loss in potency but I would still smoke it I am glad he won I love that first pic with the guy smiling from ear to ear and the pig is clearly pissed

__________________
"Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." Lincoln

Hash Man

I think the other guy in the pic is the same guy smelling the pot in the last picture, the Chavez guy. Thats sweet he got all of his stuff back, I'd be blazing that hash as soon as I got back to my house.

Something like this recently happened to my dad, he has a doctor's recommnedaton for marijuana(paralyzed from a stroke which caused muscle atrohpy), I planted 4 plants on his back deck and a angry PCA called local police and they raided the place like it were a drug operation, lol. Then when my mom showed them the "forest of dope" as the police called it, they didn't know what to do, the plants hadn't even started to bud. So the cops took them told us to bring written proof and he could have them back, but of course they just destroyed them. This happened in Maine, not Cali.

GREENFOODGAMES

Yea he is smelling it, probably saying goodbye cause he was pinchin that jar for years that's why it is empty and the rightfull owner looks pissed in the back

kinghelwig

what a nice thing to have happen unexpectedly,but this should not suprise us this is calif.