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Dozens of Medical Marijuana Patients Fighting for Seized Property Statewide
Americans for Safe Access | Friday, August 13

Activists Release Report on Police Abuses Monday; Coordinate Mass Court Action Tuesday

CALIFORNIA – Medical marijuana patients want their medicine back. Too often, according to a report by an advocacy group to be released Monday, local and state law enforcement is seizing the marijuana to which patients are legally entitled – and not giving it back. On Tuesday, more than three-dozen patients across the state will be in their respective county courthouses filing motions for return of nearly a million dollars worth of marijuana.

The report and mass court action have been put together by California-based Americans for Safe Access, the largest national advocacy group working solely on medical marijuana.

“The law protects these patients,” said the group’s legal coordinator, Kris Hermes. “But we’ve uncovered a culture of resistance within law enforcement. Many agencies across the state just don’t comply with the law. Patients are being arrested or having their medicine seized in nearly every police encounter.”

[zombienote: See - Sheriff proud of medical marijuana bust]

A recent Field poll shows that Prop. 215, the 1996 law that ensures the right of patients to possess, use and cultivate marijuana, today has support of 4 in 5 voters. In January the legislature put into effect a new measure that expands and clarifies that law, including provisions for an ID system that guarantees freedom from arrest for qualifying patients.

Nonetheless, a three-month study conducted by Americans for Safe Access found property and rights violations in more than half the counties in the state. And even the California Highway Patrol has seized marijuana from authorized patients and refused to return it.

Medical marijuana patients in California are being forced to file Motions for Return of Property in criminal court to reclaim their marijuana. If the marijuana has been destroyed or has deteriorated, the local government is responsible for compensating the patient for the value of the property lost or rendered unusable. The value of the property being sought Tuesday is estimated at nearly $1 million.

“Losing their medicine is obviously hard on the patients,” said Hermes. “But it’s also costing taxpayers money. Better law enforcement policies, or any policies at all, can fix this.”

The study to be released Monday found that most law enforcement agencies in California do not have policies for identifying patients legally entitled to have marijuana. Estimated annual cost of compensating patients whose marijuana is seized is more than $4 million.

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For interviews or more information, contact William Dolphin at (510) 919-1498. A national, grassroots coalition of 10,000 patients, doctors and advocates, Americans for Safe Access is the largest organization working solely on medical marijuana

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