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Lit_Match

Grover Police Will Return Man's Marijuana
01.19.07|The Lompoc Record|By Josh Petray

The Grover Beach Police Department will give back 20 grams of medicinal marijuana by 5 p.m. today to patient and Kenneth Parson, thereby avoiding $5,900 in attorney's fees and fines, following an order Wednesday by Judge Michael Duffy of San Luis Obispo County Superior Court to return the substance.

Wednesday's order prompted the Grover Beach City Council to hold a special closed session Thursday night, which announced just before 8 p.m. its decision to give the medicinal marijuana back.

“The city would like to have the opportunity to pursue this issue further, but having determined that given the potential cost of filing a suit in federal court and the city's limited resources, it is less than prudent to pursue this action further,” Mayor Steve Lieberman said in a statement following closed session.

Duffy initially ordered the GBPD on Dec. 29 to return Parson's pot, but the department refused, said his San Luis Obispo-based attorney Louis E. “Lou” Koory. The department initially seized Parson's pot during a routine traffic stop. Parson was later charged with misdemeanor possession but acquitted, Koory added.

“I think that the court sent a strong message,” Koory said of Wednesday's order. “I think that got the city's attention.”

Of the city's decision to return the pot, “It's a step forward,” Parson said, “They've got to give it back, they've got to obey the law.”

As its basis of its refusal, the police department had cited illegal distribution under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

“City officials and police officers swear an oath to both protect and preserve both the state and federal law, this is an oath that we hold dear, and the fact that we're being directed violate federal law and order to violate state law is distasteful,” Lieberman said in his statement, adding, “I just wanted you to note that this council stands in unified support of our police chief and our police department,” he said.

Parson, however, had the valid doctor's consent required under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, a state law allowing those with a doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use, Koory said.

“The last thing we want to do is violate a court order. That's not our intention, at any point,” Police Chief Jim Copsey said.

If the pot isn't returned and the city refuses to pay the $5,900, and if the court finds the city's answers for doing so insufficient, Copsey could potentially be held in contempt of court, according to Donaldson.

The $5,900 is composed of $900 for attorney's fees and $5,000 for punishment, Koory said.

Parson will probably pick it up this afternoon, Koory said, even though “its usefulness has degraded quite a bit” in the time since it was seized.