cannabisnews.com: City Council To Let Courts Decide On MMJ





City Council To Let Courts Decide On MMJ
Posted by FoM on December 08, 1999 at 16:33:04 PT
The Associated Press
Source: Oregon Live
The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to appeal a judge's ruling ordering police to return marijuana to a man who says he wants the drug to treat his failing health. The case comes a year after Oregon voters approved the medical use of marijuana. 
The police department has argued that it would be violating federal law -- stating it can't distribute illegal substances -- if it followed Judge Robert Redding's October ruling to release the drugs. The council said it is up to the Oregon Court of Appeals to decide whether federal or state law should prevail. "It's almost hypocritical for us to do something that is contrary to the laws we were sworn to uphold," said Capt. James C. Ferraris, commander of the police department's drug and vice division. Redding's ruling was one of the first tests of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, said Richard White, Samuel Nim Kama's attorney. "It does set a precedent in that it legitimizes the law in the eye of the court," White said. White argued that police were wrong in taking the drug from his client, who had medical reasons for using it. The judge ordered only a small amount of the drug to be returned. White would not disclose his client's medical conditions. Police in January seized a 71-plant marijuana crop, manufacturing equipment, two pounds of marijuana in the freezer, a scale and several boxes of plastic bags from a home in southeast Portland. While police were there, Kama, who did not live at the residence where the drugs were confiscated, arrived and voluntarily turned over marijuana he was carrying, according to court records. Kama has not been charged with a crime. Although the medical-marijuana law had already gone into effect, the Oregon Health Division had not begun distributing registration cards. Published: December 8, 1999©1999 Oregon Live LLCRelated Article:Police Told To Return Medical Marijuana - 12/08/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3921.shtml
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