DEA Ordered Seizure of Medical Marijuana from Paraplegic Patient

Priorities, priorities. Goon squads on parade in New Mexico.

From the ACLU New Mexico: CARLSBAD, NM - According to a sworn affidavit filed this past week by an Eddy County law enforcement official, the seizure of medical marijuana from a local paraplegic man, "was done at the direction of and under the guidance and control of the [Drug Enforcement Administration] DEA."  The affidavit, submitted by David Edmondson, Commander of the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, which conducted the seizure on September 4, 2007, makes clear that the federal government directed local law enforcement to seize the medical marijuana of a patient fully authorized to use the medicine under state law.

"This is yet another glaring example of the federal government's improper obstruction of states' ability to implement compassionate and sensible medical marijuana policies," said Adam Wolf, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Drug Law Reform Project.  "For the DEA to co-opt local law enforcement in its misguided assault on medical marijuana patients is both callous and unconstitutional."

On September 4, 2007, at least four Eddy County deputies, acting as members of the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, arrived at the home of Leonard French in Malaga, New Mexico. French, a paraplegic who experiences intense pain and severe muscle spasms stemming from 1987 motorcycle accident, holds a license issued by the state of New Mexico identifying him as a medical marijuana patient under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.

Assuming that the deputies had arrived to check his compliance with the state compassionate use law, French presented the deputies with his identification card and showed them his hydroponic equipment, including two small marijuana plants and three dead sprouts.  Acting under the guidance of the DEA, according to yesterday's affidavit, the deputies seized the equipment and plants and later turned them over to the federal agency.

The ACLU, which represents French in a pending legal challenge, says the seizure violated not only New Mexico's Compassionate Use Act, but also state forfeiture laws and a constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. French has not been charged with any violations of federal or state drug laws.

The affidavit is available online here. The ACLU's legal filing is available online here.

The New Mexico Legislature passed the medical marijuana bill during its 60-day Session in 2007.

See our previous post on the ACLU lawsuit on behalf of French.