Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 Source: Associated Press (Wire) Copyright: 2003 Associated Press Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/27 MARIJUANA RETURNED TO CALIF. ASTHMATIC INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Clutching a big brown bag of marijuana, an asthma sufferer who said he uses the drug as medicine walked out of a sheriff's station after being allowed to reclaim 15 plants seized from his backyard last year. "I feel justice has been served and it's a good thing," John Watson said Thursday. Watson said he grew the marijuana in a greenhouse for personal use, which is permitted under California's 1996 medical marijuana law if a doctor recommends it. Last September, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies received a complaint about Watson and seized his plants. He was not arrested. Prosecutors later determined the marijuana was legal and did not file charges, said Watson's lawyer, Allen Weinberg. A court ordered on Jan. 14 that deputies to return the pot. Watson, a 30-year-old carpenter, said he may seek damages because the estimated 5.7 pounds of pot was dried out and probably useless. "It's pretty much destroyed," he said. "It was going to be my medicine for the next year." He said medical cannabis groups generally sell the drug for $40 for an eighth of an ounce - about the amount Watson uses daily when he is fighting attacks. At that price, his seized marijuana would have been worth more than $30,000. Calls to deputies who conducted the investigation were not returned Friday. Watson said he started a new crop after the plants were taken. There are no statewide guidelines for the seizure and return of medical marijuana under California law, Weinberg said. Some towns have arrested pot growers while others have allowed the cultivation of dozens of plants. He called on state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to come up with uniform guidelines. In recent years, pot seized in six California counties has been returned. But in at least four other cases, authorities refused to return the drug. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth