Posted on 01/06/2003 9:53:14 AM PST by MrLeRoy
Donovan No Runner walked out of the San Luis Obispo Police station all smiles Friday, holding the bag of marijuana authorities had returned to him.
A local Superior Court judge had ordered the city to return the marijuana it confiscated from No Runner last summer, ruling the 23-year-old Grover Beach man had a valid doctor's recommendation.
But police were concerned that handing the pot over to No Runner would violate a federal law prohibiting the distribution of controlled substances.
As a result, the City Council considered appealing the court's ruling during a last-minute meeting Friday, but instead it decided to give up the fight.
"The city is an agency of the state, and we're following state law and a court order," Interim City Attorney Gil Trujillo said.
Shortly after the city decided not to appeal the case, No Runner went to the police station, where his 8.4 gram bag of marijuana was returned -- still in good condition.
While smoking marijuana is illegal under federal law, California's Proposition 215 makes it legal for those with a doctor's recommendation.
"For the time being, people are protected under state law, not under federal law," said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates the decriminalization of marijuana use.
While state voters legalized medicinal marijuana, law enforcement can still confiscate pot until it is proven that a doctor's recommendation is legitimate.
No Runner's difficulty arose because state law does not specify what is supposed to happen to medicinal marijuana once confiscated.
In court last month, No Runner's attorney, Lou Koory, cited an Oregon case in arguing that police are immune from federal prosecution, though no such case exists in California.
Trujillo said that ultimately, the issue will be resolved in a higher court.
With no clear guidelines for such a case in the state, No Runner's case could have become a precedent on appeal.
But the city also decided it was not feasible to pay attorneys' fees at a time when it is experiencing a $5 million deficit.
Koory said he and his client were ready to fight the issue if an appeal had been sought.
"We're just happy that common sense prevailed," he said.
No Runner said his doctor recommended marijuana to combat the effects of bipolar disorder.
He was lighting a water pipe near SLO Brewing Co., between a trash can and a tree, when he was stopped by a police officer in August.
No Runner told the officer he had a doctor's recommendation, but he was cited anyway, and his marijuana was taken.
Once the recommendation was verified, the District Attorney's Office dismissed criminal charges. But police would not return the pot or the pipe.
Last month, Superior Court Judge Barry LaBarbera, intending to set a local precedent, said the police had to return the marijuana within 30 days.
Koory said the police could have faced a contempt of court charge had they not returned the pot by Friday's deadline.
Despite the difficulty in getting his pot returned, No Runner said he wanted to set an example for others who need medicinal marijuana -- particularly those who have greater needs than he does.
"I'm glad this happened to me," he said. "I'm physically able to fight this."
Without a clear guideline, he said, police could confiscate marijuana merely to keep legitimate users from smoking it.
"They can't just go around taking medication from sick people," he said.
And not to mention keeping the potato chip vending machine people in business forever, as the typical Libertarian arguement goes.
Mine too.
It never ceases to amaze how so many here on FR (who should be educated enough to know better) assume that everyone who advocates decrimminalization is a leftist.
George Schutlz, William F. Buckley, Ron Paul (R-TX), GOP Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, Bill O'Reilly, Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, Walter Williams .....and the list goes on.
Yep, and that is precisely why so many of the more rational minds desire an end to this war.
Ah yes the typical textbook Libertarian response.
George Schutlz, (a respected GOP warhorse who, IMO is wrong on this issue)
William F. Buckley(someone who writes a couple of articles on drug legalisation, when was the last one in 97 or so>)
Ron Paul (R-TX)(Libertarian Presidential cnadidate in 88, nuff said)
GOP Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson(who handed New Mexico over to Monica hiring Bill Richardson in 2003)
Bill O'Reilly(the guy who thinks global warming is real)
Thomas Sowell(never saw an article where Prof. Sowell towed the pro-pot line)
Milton Friedman(He's an economist. Economist's are usually idealists looking for a perfect world, although I agree with Prof. Freidman on 90% of the issues, total drug legalization is not one of them)
Walter Williams(Another economist, again I usually agree with Prof. Williams 90% of the time and it was interesting that Prof. Williamas toned down some of his rhetoric during his recent stint for taking over for Rush)
.....and the list goes on
Go on with your fax from the LP. I am here to refute them.
Oh well conviently forgetful minds are a trademark of the left. What else is new.
Yeah, I know. Hippies smoke pot, and hippies are liberals, therefore pot makes people liberals. Are we supposed to believe that substituting guilt by association for rational debate and objective logic is a trademark of the right? Good luck with that.
Nice attempt at a dodge, but I didn't pull the year 1987 out of thin air. (See your post #79). You probably smoked heavily up to that time, couldn't handle it (paranoia, delusions, etc), and then quit. My point was that only people with a natural tendency towards paranoia exhibit these symptoms when smoking ganja.
You've got our boy 'dane' pegged.
- It's the old addictive personality thing. Addicts, or potential addicts, become the biggest crusaders against substance abuse once they've got themselves under control.
It becomes their 'mission' to see that others are brought under the control they lacked.
Dane:
"Well just lock me up and throw away the key for speaking out against the Libertarian drug culture."
There is no such 'culture', -- save in your pitiful, fanatical mind.
#1) I'm a Republican, not a Libertarian.
#2) You failed to refute my main point, which was that the major political voices in favor of stopping the drug war happen to be conservative/republican.
Your attempts at dodges in this conversation have progressed from annoying to laughable.
The great majority of decriminalization proponents that I come across are in it so that they can get high. I am not saying that there are not a great many good things (or is that a good many great things?) both medical and non that are good about hemp/cannibis/pot. It's just that I see a lot more Phishheads than community leaders espousing it's virtues. It's really just a matter of marketing, and the right spokesperson (joke).
Right on the money, amigo.
Huh probably 90% of pot smokers today are demorat supporters(you know all that demorat jazz that Pubbies are evil corporatists while they commune over the bong).
Show me statistics otherwise, and the .045% Harry Browne got is no cigar, excuse me "blunt", and maybe I will take you seriously.
Huh the facts stated in reply #130 gets a laughable ad hominem.
Why am I not surprised.
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