Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: News Tribune, The (Tacoma, WA)
Copyright: 2009 Tacoma News Inc.
Contact:  http://www.thenewstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/442
Author: John Trumbo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA RETURNED TO KENNEWICK GROWER

Four years after police seized Timothy E. Adams'  homegrown supply of 
medical marijuana and slapped him  into Benton County jail, he 
reclaimed his pot and  related equipment.

The 45-year-old Kennewick resident drove his SUV to the  rear of the 
Kennewick police station Wednesday, and  officers allowed Adams to 
load up his rig with what was  left of 40 mature plants that had been 
locked up in  evidence lockers since March 2005.

Taking back his medicinal pot marks the end of Adams'  legal battle 
with Benton County authorities in which a  state appeals court ruled 
that he was wrongly convicted  in 2007.

A state appeals court declared last month that Adams  had a legal 
right to grow the marijuana as a "primary  caregiver" for someone 
when Kennewick officers raided  his home March 12, 2005, taking the 
plants, glass  smoking pipes, growing equipment and scales.

Chief Judge John A. Schultheis of Division III  Appellate Court wrote 
in his opinion that arresting  officers should have asked about or 
given Adams the  opportunity to show he had a permit to legally grow 
marijuana as a primary caregiver under the state's  Medical Marijuana 
Act when they arrested him at a store  in Pasco where he worked.

"It would be nice if the police would acknowledge there  is a (state) 
law," said Adams Wednesday while  recounting the events of his arrest 
and conviction in  Benton County Superior Court.

Adams, who claimed to have medical marijuana use permit  from two 
Portland doctors, also argued that he was a  permitted "primary 
caregiver" for another person who  used the drug for medicinal purposes.

The Benton County Prosecutor's Office charged Adams  with illegal 
growing of marijuana.

Adams said the arrest left him unemployed, estranged  from business 
partners and family members and homeless  until he met Tammy 
Wandling, who became his fianc and  posted a $5,000 bond to keep him 
out of jail until the  appeal was resolved.

Adams said the arrest could have been avoided if  Washington had a 
statewide registry for people  permitted to grow and use medical marijuana.

He said he became a member of the THC Foundation in  Bellevue six 
years ago because he wanted to use  marijuana for pain relief from a 
traumatic injury  accident that occurred when he was a child.

The appeals court found that Adams was qualified to  have up to a 
60-day supply of marijuana for medical  use, and that Benton County 
authorities were wrong not  to recognize that he had documented proof 
of being a  legitimate grower and primary caregiver.

"He was never given a chance to obtain the documents"  to show 
police), the court ruled in ordering a remand.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom