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  DEA Claims Dibs on Heart Patient's Pot
Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2002 at 16:54:34 PT
By Steve Suo 
Source: Oregon Live 

medical Heart patient Samuel Nim Kama thought he'd won the battle to make Portland officials hand over the 2.5 grams of marijuana they took from him in 1999. Having proved that he was entitled to the drug under Oregon's Medical Marijuana Act -- and having prevailed twice in state court over the city's objections -- Kama was ready to claim his property this month from a police evidence room where it's sat for three years.

But in the end, it appears neither Kama, 52, nor the city will get to keep the tin of stale pot denoted by Portland Police Property Receipt No. 680678. The federal government does.

A federal magistrate on Wednesday authorized the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to serve a warrant for the drug on the Portland Police Bureau. Pending a hearing before a state judge today, DEA agents plan to seize the drugs under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

"You're talking about federal law," said Rogene Waite, a DEA spokeswoman, "which is clearly, according to the U.S. Constitution, supreme."

Kama's case is rare; his 2.5 grams were seized when the medical marijuana law was just a month old. Oregon now issues ID cards so that the state's roughly 2,500 registered medical marijuana users can avoid such conflicts with police. But the law's authors called the DEA's move -- which follows a recent crackdown on marijuana buyers' clubs in California -- a bizarre example of the Bush administration's tough new stance in states that allow marijuana as medicine.

"Doesn't the federal government have better things to do?" asked Richard Bayer, chief petitioner of the Medical Marijuana Act and a Washington County physician. He likened smoking 2.5 grams of 3-year-old buds, enough for about two cigarettes, to smoking "lawn clippings after it didn't rain for six weeks."

Richard White, Kama's attorney, said he was still weighing his options.

The city attorney's office -- in the odd position of arguing Wednesday that it was obligated to give the marijuana to Kama and not the DEA -- did not return phone calls for comment.

Kama lost his marijuana Jan. 28, 1999.

Police who were at the home of a Southeast Portland couple found a 71-plant marijuana crop, manufacturing equipment, two pounds of frozen marijuana, a scale and boxes of plastic bags. Kama drove up during the search and voluntarily gave police the small tin of marijuana he was carrying.

The couple pleaded guilty to drug offenses. Kama said he was entitled to his marijuana under state law.

The law, approved by voters in November 1998, allows people with conditions such as AIDS or cancer to possess small quantities of marijuana for treating symptoms such as pain and nausea. They must obtain a doctor's note and fill out an application with the state Health Division.

Kama, who suffered a heart attack and has a defibrillator in his chest, argued successfully that he needed marijuana to settle nausea that makes it hard for him to swallow food and medicine. He was never prosecuted.

But the police, saying officers would be guilty of delivery of a controlled substance, balked at returning the marijuana.

When Multnomah County Circuit Judge Robert Redding ordered police to return Kama's marijuana, the City Council voted to take the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

When the court upheld Redding's decision, the city attorney's office went to the Oregon Supreme Court, which decided May 8 not to consider the appeal. Kama's attorney began talking to the city about how to retrieve the marijuana.

That's when the DEA stepped in.

On May 16, Special Agent Jeffrey R. Wallenstrom, a 12-year veteran who has examined 20 indoor marijuana grows, signed a seven-page affidavit asking U.S. Magistrate Donald C. Ashmanskas for a warrant to seize the pot from police custody.

Ashmanskas complied, but he gave the city until today to discuss the issue further with Redding, the state judge who originally ruled Kama should get his marijuana back. If the DEA serves the warrant after that, the bureau will have to comply, said Lt. Frank Romanaggi of the drug and vice division.

Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a Portland police spokesman who also happened to be the officer who originally took Kama's drugs away, said the bureau had sought the DEA's advice earlier to clarify possible conflicts with federal law.

Since marijuana loses its potency at room temperature, Schmautz said Kama's pot is probably long past its prime. But that's not the issue.

"The federal law does not distinguish between really good-looking bud or really crappy-looking bud," Schmautz said. "It says you can't distribute a controlled substance."

Source: Oregon Live.com
Author: Steve Suo
Published: May 23, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Oregon Live LLC
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Contact: http://www.oregonlive.com/contactus/

Related Articles & Web Sites:

OMMP -- Medical Marijuana Program
http://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/oaps/mm/

Medical Marijuana Information Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htm

City Council To Let Courts Decide On MMJ
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3928.shtml

Police Told To Return Medical Marijuana
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3921.shtml


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Comment #14 posted by SoberStoner on May 25, 2002 at 00:40:42 PT:

America is dead
The bill of right has been under attack for years and is now basically nonexistent..the founding fathers of our country would denounce all the current government as traitors and have them hung or start another revolution..

Be a patriot, be a hero, save the planet, grow a plant and that way you can prevent money from going to terrorists..just like the last world war, grow hemp for victory!

This government must change its ways or it will be overthrown, either by terrorists, or its own citizens.

SS

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #13 posted by Reverend Nick on May 24, 2002 at 16:54:02 PT:

What's left of the Constitution & States Rights
"You're talking about federal law," said Rogene Waite, a DEA spokeswoman, "which is clearly, according to the U.S. Constitution, supreme."

Do they read the Disney Version of the Constitution or what? Here it is, the 9th and 10th amendments to the constitution:

"Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

This America sucks. I want the old one back.

Reverend Nick

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #12 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on May 24, 2002 at 16:09:12 PT
Book Police...Pull Over !
All right you....literate people.....knock it off with the references to quality works of literature.

Why cant we just stick to whinin about the gummint and makin cheech and chong-style jokes, like we're supposed to?

You are very dissapointing bunch of stoners.

juuussssst kiddin, of course ;)

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by Prime on May 24, 2002 at 07:54:20 PT
Books
Thanks dddd

Its amazing how we can open our perception through reading a good book. I have turned all my friends and family onto Solzhenitsyn. I am now building a great collection of Russian classics, its truly a fascinating history.

"In Watermelon Sugar" looks like a hit. I'll let you know what I think.

If your scientific at all in nature you gotta check out "Genome" by Matt Ridley. Its a pretty good explaination of the Genome mapping and all the doors it has opened for us. It also sheds alot of light on our human/earth history. Some of it will truly blow you away.

Happy Reading!!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by dddd on May 24, 2002 at 06:41:28 PT
....Prime...
.......I read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich..It was excellent..also,The Gulag Archapeligo..Such classic books as these should be balanced with modern classics like ;In Watermelon Sugar,,by Richard Brautigan.....
..I salute you,in being a reader of books.It seems like not as many people take the time to read books nowdays,, including myself. I was once an avid reader.My Mom had bookshelves that were well stocked with classics.I used to get in trouble at school for reading during class...Reading teaches the language of the mind,and the resources for thought......I'm going to read a book this week...You have inspired me Prime.......dddd


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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on May 24, 2002 at 04:48:54 PT:

The window of opportunity is closing
for the Feds, that is.

As always, after the shock wears off, the questions begin.

I tend to agree with the assessments of 4D and Dr. Z. The Shrubbish have had the run of the roost for 8 months, now. They've been able to cow their opponents with the threat of being declared 'unpatriotic' for criticism of the Bush Regime. But with the latest revelations - and totally sophomoric attempts to downplay their significance (In two words: BUSH KNEW) - the Feds under Bush sense that things are returning to 'normal'...whatever that was.

And 'normal' is what the Feds don't want. 'Normal' is when people shove back against the 'bum's rush' chivvying and brow-beating they've been getting from the Administration. 'Normal' is asking questions. (The kind of questions the spineless corporate media has strenuously avoided asking.)

In short, the days of getting what you want by threatening to denounce someone for insufficient patriotism in not supporting DEA efforts to destroy MMJ centers...are over. They know it. The backlash against the Fed government in toto for the absolutely sloppy handling of an attack upon our soil is coming. It's only just now starting to sink into the minds of the sheeple that their lives were placed in jeopardy needlessly and callously by longest-vacation-of-any-Prez Bush. The Internet is proving its' worth every day, with new revelations concerning before, during and after 9-11. Revelations that put the Bush Regime in a very bad light, indeed.

(If I were Mr. Bush, I would stay the Hell away from New York City or the Pentagon for the remaining two years...if he has that long. An aggrieved survivor might want to exact some good 'ol fashioned American-style personal justice for his disgraceful handling of this whole matter.)

So, the chances for easy smash-and-grab of MMJ patients medicine are slipping away, fast. The question of misuse of Federal resources (plenty of money and agents for oppressing MMJ centers, none for catching Osama, who's more of a threat than any dying cannabis smoker) could become a very large chink in the Fed armor, big enough to drive a Mack truck through. The smarter ones know this, hence the latest actions.

We are witnessing desperation masked behind bravado.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 23, 2002 at 22:02:29 PT
Prime
That's a good idea. I don't know how to do it though. There is a book section on the front page but nothing is in it. I don't have anyone to update links and I don't know how. Maybe a list of a few good books could be posted. It is something to think about and I will try to figure out how it can be done. Thanks for the suggestion.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by Prime on May 23, 2002 at 21:55:59 PT
Kafkaesque??
Between you and EJ I end up reading the greatest books.

My last 3

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -Solzhenitsyn The Long Walk -Rawicz Wealth of Nations -Smith

Now reading

Theodore Rex -Morris Genome -Ridley

Thanks for all the great reading tips! I just ordered a few of Kafka's classics.

FOM... we should start a CCN book list... just a thought...

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by dddd on May 23, 2002 at 20:03:37 PT
.....What this means.....
.....I think this gives us an insight into what the DEA/empire are going to be doing....Their plan is to try and nip medical Marijuana in the bud.(no pun intended.)....It's rather obvious that this comes from top...Hutch and Walters. ...That is the only way to explain going after 2.5 grams of weed.....

"On May 16, Special Agent Jeffrey R. Wallenstrom, a 12-year veteran who has examined 20 indoor marijuana grows, signed a seven-page affidavit asking U.S. Magistrate Donald C. Ashmanskas for a warrant to seize the pot from police custody. "

.........There is nothing normal,about filing a seven page affidavit for a warrant to seize this small amount.The only explanation,is that the feds are zeroing in on MMJ cases in the states,and have made it a priority to overide state Marijuana laws...In other words,,our tax money is being used to pay for the feds to obstruct the will of the voters!.....I'm afraid we are going to be seeing alot more of this from the feds.They are going to take any measures possible to try and neutralize Medical Marijuana laws...They know they are losing,,and they do not like losing.. .They always suggest that MMJ will lead to eventual legalization,,,and they are right......They accuse the proponents of MMJ,of pretending it has medicinal value,so they can get high....This may be true in some instances ,,and even if it is,,who could blame people who want to get a doctors approval to legally possess,and use,and grow Marijuana,instead of going to jail?
...Seeing the feds go after this small amount,is a bad sign..but it could work out to backfire on the feds,because the people in Oregon are already sorta pissed off at the feds,and so are Californians.....dddd


[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #5 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on May 23, 2002 at 19:47:44 PT
Precedents...
(in voice of W.C.Fields)

Yes...precedents my good ladies and gents...

2.5 grams is enough to throw down the gauntlet to trump up enough ballyhoo to get a FEDERAL trial going to set a precedent, which would then be interpreted as OPEN SEASON on any and all of the identified medial cannabis clubs and patients. The goal is to crush, not just intimidate, the medical cannabis movement and cannabis culture worldwide.

I would also like to suggest that things are heating up rapidly now and a "blitz" of a variety of issues is about to wash over us:

All of cheneys sable-rattling about dissent the increase in terror threat warnings..which are threats in them selves essentially...(Be rather terrified, but alert?)

Canada's movement toward legalization and the growing mainstream acceptance of cannabis culture is straining the US governemnts clampdown on it. People arent scared, they are suing the police and the courts and winning, and after the spate of stories about Sheriffs having to return cannabis to the owners as a result of State law, they have no choice but to attack the states.

That they do it a time when we are more under attack than we are told, its Kafkaesque that the Federal Governemnt would expend such vast resources. Thus we can assume it means a lot to them.

I am more and more seeing this as about oil and control of world energy resources. The last thing an energy empire needs is commoners with sustainable enrgy.

That 2.5 grams means a lot to those who profit from the enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by JHarshaw on May 23, 2002 at 19:11:17 PT
Slight Confusion
"You're talking about federal law," said Rogene Waite, a DEA spokeswoman, "which is clearly, according to the U.S. Constitution, supreme."

I've listened to Dick Cowan speak on this subject and I thought that State law trumped Federal Law except in very limited circumstances.

I could be wrong though, it wouldn't be the 1st time.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by p4me on May 23, 2002 at 18:59:32 PT
The DEA gets better
The DEA just gets better at wasting money than ever before. What a waste of money for people that take their jobs seriously. I guess the money they had budgeted for protecting us from hempfoods must be spent somehow.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by The GCW on May 23, 2002 at 18:41:00 PT
Bush is gross.
This is Our countries resources at work.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 23, 2002 at 17:57:13 PT
Wow major score
2.5 grams. Obviously they are going after the major dealers.



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