Medical Marijuana Grower Prosecuted for Pot Plants
Cops seized, tended to, returned suspect's plants
Last Edited: Friday, 20 Jul 2007, 9:47 PM MDT Created: Friday, 20 Jul 2007,
9:03 PM MDT

By Charlie Brennan

GOLDEN -- A Larimer County man authorized to grow and use medical
marijuana is being prosecuted for possession and cultivation of pot, even
though the cops have already returned the plants they'd seized at the outset
of the case.
Chris Crumbliss, 31, appeared in Jefferson County District Court on Friday
for a motions hearing, in which a judge ruled that he will be permitted to
use the affirmative defense that his rights to grow and possess the drug are
preserved by his state-approved status as a patient and caregiver.

Both Crumbliss and his lawyer, Sean T. McAllister of Breckenridge, find it
ironic that for now, the prosecution of Crumbliss continues, even though the
Colorado State Patrol cared for, watered, and eventually returned the 35
plants that were found in his car during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 on
December 23, 2006 in Golden.

"I think, from what my lawyer tells me, it is a little bit bizarre, and I
think the charges will eventually be dropped," said Crumbliss, who uses
medical marijuana to combat lower back pain, chronic headaches, and other
maladies.

Crumbliss said he also provides marijuana to dozens of other
state-registered patients.

"Some of my other patients have glaucoma, cancer, lupus," he said. "They are
all very sick people who benefit from this medicine."

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Story declined to be interviewed on
the subject of Crumbliss's case, which is currently scheduled for trial Oct.
2. However, his spokeswoman, Pam Russell, pointed out that Colorado's
Amendment 20, passed by state voters in 2000, states that any medical
marijuana seized for any reason by law enforcement must not be destroyed.

For that reason, she said, a decision was made to turn the plants back over
to Crumbliss, so that the state would not remain in the awkward position of
having to tend to a marijuana crop.

Russell, who noted that a sample of each plant was retained as evidence,
admitted that it was somewhat difficult to find the best solution to
handling some of the challenging legal issues that have arisen out of the
state's medical marijuana law.

As recently as July 3, Denver District Judge Larry Naves ruled in the case
of medical marijuana user David "Damien" LaGoy, that a Department of Public
Health and Environment rule limiting to five the number of patients who can
be served by one grower, or "caregiver," did not appear to be based on
scientific or medical evidence. He also ruled that the rule had been adopted
by health officials without adequate public notice and in violation of the
state's Open Meeting Law, and issued a preliminary injunction against its
enforcement.

"There's a lot of gray areas at the moment," said Crumbliss. "We haven't had
our medical marijuana laws as long as California. I think it's partially
about educating not only the public, but the government officials, that this
is something that's accepted now, and there's nothing wrong with it.

"If you're not hurting anyone, and you're helping someone, then I don't see
what the problem is."

Whatever the outcome of Crumbliss's Jefferson County case, his legal
problems won't end there. His Larimer County property was raided earlier
this year - subsequent to his arrest in Golden - and that resulted in
addition marijuana cultivation, possession and firearm charges against him.