UPDATE

CU police return marijuana to student

By Vanessa Miller (Contact)
Originally published 01:34 p.m., September 22, 2008
Updated 01:34 p.m., September 22, 2008

University of Colorado police on Monday returned marijuana to a CU student -- who's a medical-marijuana cardholder -- after officers in May confiscated about two ounces of the drug from the freshman outside his residence hall room.

Now-CU sophomore Edward Nicholson, 20, had threatened to sue the university after he said CU police confiscated marijuana that he's legally certified to administer to his brother -- who Nicholson said suffers from chronic, debilitating pain from football injuries.

Nicholson said he's been, buying, holding and administering the drug to his 23-year-old brother for more than a year. State law allows marijuana to be used if it's recommended by a doctor for debilitating medical conditions.

Caregivers, like Nicholson, must carry state-issued medical-marijuana cards. Nicholson is a cardholder for his brother, he said, because he said pot is easier to buy in Boulder than in Aurora, where his family lives.

Nicholson said he feels he was "targeted" last year when CU police smelled pot coming from his residence hallway and assumed it was coming from his dorm room. After confiscating the drug in May, CU officials threatened to suspend Nicholson for a semester, require he do 24 hours of community service and comply with drug and alcohol testing. He also was charged to write a paper about the harmful effects of the drug on his schooling.

CU officials dropped the case against Nicholson after his attorney, Robert Corry, threatened a lawsuit. Nicholson now lives off campus.

CU officials also revised their housing policy this fall to ban students from storing marijuana in their dorms, even if they're medical-marijuana cardholders. Freshmen can, however, be released from the on-campus residency requirement if they are cardholders, said CU lawyer Jeremy Hueth.

There are 1,955 cardholders in Colorado, according to last year's statistics from the state health department.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said about the CU case that the medical-marijuana law has become a "front for widespread marijuana distribution."

"The proponents of these laws make them intentionally ambiguous, causing significant problems for law enforcement in Colorado and elsewhere," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CU police return marijuana to student : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera
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