Pubdate: Mon, 29 Aug 2005
Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)
Copyright: 2005 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.chieftain.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

POLICE TO RETURN CONFISCATED POT DURING SEARCH

DENVER - A man whose doctor recommended that he use marijuana for medical 
reasons expected police on Monday to return a half-ounce of the drug that 
an officer confiscated from him about three weeks ago, his lawyer said.

A police spokesman was not able to confirm the news late Sunday.

Timothy Haas uses the drug for an undisclosed medical condition that causes 
him severe pain and back problems, said his lawyer, Robert Corry.

An officer found the marijuana during a security check when Haas was 
visiting his brother at a Denver hospital a few weeks ago, Corry said. Haas 
showed the officer a copy of his doctor's recommendation that he use 
marijuana, but the officer confiscated the drug. Corry said he then began 
negotiating with the city attorney's office to have the marijuana released.

Haas never was charged with any crime, Corry said.

Marijuana is considered illegal under federal law, but Colorado law allows 
residents to grow and possess small amounts if they hold a certificate 
allowing them to do so for pain relief. Colorado is among 10 states that 
allow medical cannabis use.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who smoke marijuana 
because their doctors recommend it can still be prosecuted for violating 
federal drug laws. Corry said Haas is believed to be the first Coloradan to 
have medical marijuana returned since the ruling.

"It's a message to people that Colorado's medical marijuana program is 
valid and viable," Corry said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman