Lit_Match

Colorado cops may have to pay for seized marijuana plants
09-22-08|Civil Liberties Examiner|J.D. Tuccille

Will police in Fort Collins, Colorado have to compensate a couple for a small crop of medical marijuana that was seized and left to rot in an evidence room? That seems like an unusual question to ask -- marijuana is illegal, right? -- but it's one that may well have to be answered in the positive according to legal provisions passed very deliberately by state voters.

Colorado has a fairly sensible system regarding the medical use of marijuana -- fairly sensible that is, short of simply recognizing people's right to grow, buy, sell and ingest whatever they please. But, given the limitations of the American legal environment, it's a decent law that allows the use of marijuana to alleviate a defined set of medical conditions, and even lets doctors and patients petition to add new conditions to the list.

In some states with medical marijuana laws, police have thumbed their noses at the public's laissez-faire sentiments and gone after people buying and using marijuana anyway. The assumption seems to be that a midnight raid and confiscation of plants and equipment are punishment enough in themselves, even if the courts dismiss all charges after the fact.

It's sort of do-it-yourself Prohibition.

The plight of James and Lisa Masters in Fort Collins isn't quite so clear-cut. They were clearly authorized to use and grow marijuana, but they hadn't made their status clear to the state for economic reasons.

Without all the "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed, police felt justified in taking the Masters into custody and grabbing their 39 plants. Those plants then went into the evidence room, without air, light or water. That's not really a nurturing environment for a living crop -- a valuable living crop.

Fast forward in time after all charges have been dismissed and the charges ruled illegal. The Masters' property must now be returned to them. But ...

This is a problem, because Colorado's Amendment 20, passed by the voters in 2000, specifically holds:

There's no penalty specified for police departments that don't follow the law, but that would seem to provide grounds for a lawsuit.

Such as the one the Masters have filed for $200,000 to cover the cost of their destroyed plants.

I'd say they have a good case.

[There is a comments section available for this article.]

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

tokinGLX

here is a video that shows the lawyer for james and lisa talking about denvers marijuana laws, as well as offering FREE representation for anybody busted for simple possession in the city/county of denver.

and here is another client of rob corry, getting some pot back from the cops (one ounce of weed and one ounce of vaporized remains that the police called "weed" because it turned up positive for containing thc). he also got back all of his growing supplies and 2 computers that were illegally seized.

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united we toke, divided we choke.

Mikeebud

I wanna live in Colorado, NORML Canada, Doesn't do shit.

The american version works hard to reform laws. Norml canada is a waste of money and time.

I want the American Version in canada.

Buzzby

39 plants. $200,000. That's $5,128 per plant. I suspect that a judge won't be that sympathetic to this obvious scam to bleed the public treasury. Replace the plants? Sure. Get rich doing it? I don't think so. It would cost less than $1,000 to grow that many plants.

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quickie

My feeling is they need to review past convictions and determine what police have valued MJ plants in those cases. This could potentially stop them from overvaluing the busts in the future.

GREENFOODGAMES

I agree with Buzzby $200,000 seems like a lot more then fair compensation. I am glad to see that they won the case however

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"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

tokinGLX

uh....they have already done that, that is EXACTLY how they came up with the numbers that they got.

Buzzby

I see no connection at all between this medical marijuana grow and the value of black market drugs. The estimated value that is announced for a bust has nothing to do with the nature of the crime or the penalties imposed. None of the laws list a schedule of penalties based on estimated value.

What would be appropriate here is the replacement value of what was destroyed.

Actually, I don't know why the charges were dismissed. These people were clearly in violation of Colorado law, which says that patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess no more than two ounces of usable marijuana, and may cultivate no more than six marijuana plants.

Perhaps they should be compensated only for the 12 plants they were legally permitted to grow.

tokinGLX

they were legally assigned as caregivers for multiple people. they were well within their legal limits.

quickie

The logic is simple....The cops have a value determined for each plant, thats what they should pay.