KIND COMPENSATION (COLORADO)
KIND COMPENSATION article
An upcoming medical marijuana hearing could be a golden opportunity for
providers
Fort Collins medical marijuana providers James and Lisa Masters are
asking county law enforcement officials for more than $200,000 in
compensation for 39 confiscated pot plants, seized during a bust of
their home last August. The Masters are also considering a lawsuit
against Larimer County for placing their two young daughters in foster
care for six weeks following the bust.
This June, a county judge dismissed the pot case against the couple
after ruling that a police search was performed illegally and the county
district attorney??s office conceded there was no admissible evidence.
The state??s medical marijuana law requires law enforcement officials to
care for and return plants, paraphernalia and equipment upon
determination of registered medical marijuana patients and/or dismissal
of charges.
??It??ll be interesting to see if they??ve grown real well,? says Brian
Vicente, one of the Masters?? attorneys and executive director of
Sensible Colorado, a procannabis group. ??Maybe they??ve got a green thumb.?
In June, Larimer County returned pot to a medical marijuana patient, but
Lieutenant Craig Dodd of the Larimer County Drug Task Force says his
unit doesn??t have its own grow room.
??We don??t take plants if it??s a legal medical marijuana grow,? Dodd
says. ??They??re not going to live once we take them. We??re not bringing
them back to our horticultural center.?
Dodd says the county should still have the Masters?? lamps and fans, but
the plants are ??most likely dead by now.?
If that??s the case, the Masters and their attorneys believe they??re
entitled to compensation. The Masters?? motion for return of property,
filed June 1, cites a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency report, which
estimates ??marijuana is quite literally worth its weight in gold,
selling for approximately $325 per ounce in 2003.? By that measure, 39
plants, each assumed to yield a pound of pot, are worth $202,800. And
that doesn??t include the value of paraphernalia, equipment and a batch
of pot brownies.
The district attorney??s office did not comment on the hearing, set for
August 24.
James Masters is also planning to file a civil suit against Larimer
County for ??the pain and suffering my family went through,? after county
officials separated his daughters from him and his wife.
In the aftermath of the case dismissal, James Masters believes ??there??s
an element of self-preservation for the Larimer County courts and the
DA??s office? to avoid returning or paying for the marijuana.
A ruling in the Masters?? favor could also set a state precedent. Vicente
says he doesn??t know of any Colorado cases where the government has paid
for destroyed weed. In California, at least one medical marijuana
patient received a payout after his seized pot was stolen from a police
storage locker.
James Masters adds that the local medical marijuana community has only
recently gained the capacity to grow an amount of cannabis equal to what
they were cultivating last year.
??We??ve built a community of camaraderie and trust, even without the
medicine,? Masters says, ??but it has cost patients with their quality of
life.?
Rocky Mountain Chronicle
August 16, 2007
By Joshua Zaffos
KIND COMPENSATION (COLORADO)
