Pubdate: Tue, 05 Apr 2005
Source: South Bend Tribune (IN)
Copyright: 2005 South Bend Tribune
Contact:  http://www.southbendtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/621
Author: Stan Maddux, Tribune Correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

POLICE SAY PATIENT HAD POT IN HOSPITAL ROOM

Nurse Smelled Smoke Coming From Room

LAPORTE -- It wasn't exactly medical marijuana. But police say one man
recovering from an accident on the job saw no reason not to light up from
his bed at LaPorte Hospital.

Late Friday afternoon, a nurse walking by a patient's room detected
what she strongly suspected was an odor of burning marijuana.

She walked into the room and found the 19-year-old man in his bed,
passed out and holding a pipe that police say contained a green leafy
substance later determined to be marijuana.

After waking up, police said the LaPorte man denied the marijuana
belonged to him, claiming someone must have placed the pipe in his
hand while he slept.

He then admitted to smoking pot in his hospital room, police said.

According to authorities, police confiscated the pipe and the 1 gram
of marijuana that was packed into both ends of the smoking device.

Because the amount of marijuana involved was so minimal, the man was
not charged, said LaPorte Police Chief Dave Gariepy.

Instead, the case was turned over to drug investigators with the
LaPorte Metro Operations Unit to decide whether he'll face
prosecution.

"There's no guarantee he'll be arrested for it," said Gariepy.

The man ended up in the hospital after a Wednesday incident. About 3
p.m. on Wednesday, police were called to Showmen Supplies in the 1700
block of State Street.

Upon arrival, the man was being loaded on a back board by paramedics,
who transported him by ambulance to LaPorte Hospital, police said.

Showmen Supplies co-owner Mark Siefker said the man was on foot,
helping a forklift driver move a 400-pound light tower for shipment.

The forklift, though, drove over something that caused it to lean, and
the light tower, measuring 8 feet in length, rolled off.

Siefker said the tower hit the ground before striking the man, an
employee of Showmen Supplies for just two days.

"It, like, bounced into him and knocked him over. He got damaged going
down with it," said Siefker.

The man has since been released from the hospital.

Family members would not disclose his injuries but said he was hurt
badly and faces a lengthy rehabilitation.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin