Pubdate: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Page: B1 Copyright: 2011 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: Jack Moran, The Register-Guard Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-or (Oregon) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.) MEDICAL POT USER SETTLES WITH CITY Springfield Agrees to Pay Him $7,500 After He Was Cited on a Possession Charge SPRINGFIELD - A medical marijuana user who threatened to sue the city of Springfield after police ticketed him for carrying the drug into the Springfield Justice Center has instead accepted a $7,500 settlement that allows the city to deny any alleged wrongdoing in the incident. By settling the case, Paul McClain gave up his right to file a lawsuit accusing Springfield police of violating his civil rights in February 2010, when they issued him a citation charging him with marijuana possession. A Springfield Municipal Court judge dismissed the citation after McClain, who has state approval to use medical marijuana, vowed to dispute the charge at a trial. McClain, 41, declined to comment on the settlement agreement when contacted by telephone by The Register-Guard. City spokesman Niel Laudati said the agreement came about as a result of discussions between McClain and the city's insurance provider. "It was solely done to avoid litigation costs, and the city has no admission of wrongdoing," Laudati said. McClain, who lives in Springfield, filed a tort claim notice with the city last August. In the two-page document that he appears to have written himself, McClain alleged that police violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when they "failed to provide fair warning that possessing marijuana in a public place is unlawful." But when he accepted the $7,500 to settle the case, McClain agreed that he is not to be considered a prevailing party in a civil rights complaint. McClain's allegations centered on a Feb. 11, 2010, incident that began when he walked into the city justice center to speak to a judge about unpaid traffic fines. A court worker advised him of the court's policy to search all bags before allowing someone into a courtroom, and McClain complied. That's when a court bailiff discovered a small amount of marijuana in his backpack. Two Springfield officers came to the scene. After confirming McClain's status as a state-registered medical marijuana patient, they ordered him to take his pot out of the building. McClain left, and then hid his marijuana before walking back toward the justice center. Two police officers stopped him and issued him a ticket for pot possession - even though he did not have the marijuana with him at the time. Police said officer Brian Antone wrote the ticket because he interpreted Oregon's medical marijuana law as saying that state-registered patients are prohibited from carrying the drug in a public place. McClain's case prompted state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, to advise Springfield Municipal Court Judge James Strickland in writing that the law's intent is to prohibit people from smoking or growing pot in public and "not the simple act of carrying their medicine on their person or in their belongings when in a public place." Prozanski told Strickland that McClain's case identified an "ambiguity" in the law that would need to be addressed during this year's legislative session. As of Jan. 1, 38,269 people in Oregon - including 4,194 in Lane County - possessed state-issued cards allowing them to use medical marijuana. McClain said he gained a doctor's recommendation to use the drug after he injured his back in a traffic accident. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake