Washington State Patrol ordered to return 9 ounces of MMJ

December 22nd, 2009   Filed Under Uncategorized  

From the CDC:

Last Tuesday, a King County judge ordered the Washington State Patrol to
return 9 ounces of medical marijuana to authorized patient Scott Verner.
During a routine traffic stop, a state trooper smelled and seized Mr.
Verner’s cannabis, even though he showed his medical marijuana paperwork
to the officer as required by law. The trooper told Mr. Verner that he was
allowed to use medical marijuana, but not to transport it via automobile.

Congratulations to Aaron Pelley, the attorney on the Verner
case. Aaron made the news last September after winning the return of over
eleven pounds of medical marijuana from the Kent Police.

Undereducated and misinformed law enforcement routinely offer erroneous
legal analyses when arresting medical marijuana patients. Hearing cops say
“I know the law” then proceed to egregiously misquote the law serves only
to increase the sense of fear and helplessness felt by Washington State
medical marijuana patients. The night (or more) in jail only adds to that.

Verner v. King County is the first case in the CDC’s Medical Marijuana
Reclamation Project to be argued in court. Our goal with this project is
to correctly inform errant law enforcement agencies about Washington’s
voter-approved medical marijuana law. If you know of a medical marijuana
patient whose medical marijuana was falsely seized, have them contact us
at info@cdc.coop or 888-208-5332.

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City Council Votes for Reclassification

December 17th, 2009   Filed Under ACLU, Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform  

Courtesy of Alison Holcomb (Drug Policy Project) of the ACLU:
Yesterday, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to pass Resolution 31174, which sets the 2010 state legislative agenda for the city. The agenda includes support of SB 5615 and HB 1177, the bills introduced by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Rep. Dave Upthegrove that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying mandatory jail time to a civil infraction imposing a $100 fine payable by mail, similar to a parking ticket:

“In addition, we support reclassifying possession of small amounts of marijuana from a
misdemeanor to a civil infraction.”

The full text of the resolution can be viewed here. The relevant language appears in the “Law & Criminal Justice” section.

The video of yesterday’s Full Council meeting can be viewed here. The discussion of Resolution 31174 begins at 66:08; the vote takes place at 75:53.

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