[ACLU-NM] NEWS RELEASE: ACLU Sues Sheriff's Deputies to Uphold New Mexico Marijuana Law

[Whitney Potter]

ACLU Sues Sheriff's Deputies to Uphold 

New Mexico Marijuana Law

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday January 17, 2008

 

CONTACT: Whitney Potter, ACLU of New Mexico, (505) 507-9898;
wpotter at aclu-nm.org 

 

CARLSBARD - A paraplegic man is suing Eddy County Sheriff's Deputies for
seizing marijuana plants and equipment to grow marijuana, which he uses
to control pain resulting from a spinal cord injury.  Leonard French
received a license to cultivate and use small quantities of marijuana
for medicinal purposes from the State of New Mexico under the Lynn and
Erin Compassionate Use Act.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
of New Mexico, which represents French, says the deputies' actions
violated not only that law, but also state forfeiture laws and a
constitutional prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

 

"The New Mexico state legislature, in its wisdom, passed the
Compassionate Use Act after carefully considering the benefits the drug
provides for people who suffer from uncontrollable pain, and weighing
those benefits against the way federal law considers cannabis," said
Peter Simonson, ACLU Executive Director.  "With their actions against
Mr. French, Eddy County officials thwarted that humane, sensible law,
probably for no other reason than that they believed federal law
empowered them to do so."

 

On September 4, 2007, at least four Eddy County deputies, acting as
members of the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, arrived at French's home in
Malaga, New Mexico and announced, "We're here about the marijuana."
Thinking that the deputies had arrived to check his compliance with the
compassionate use law, French presented the deputies with his state
license to grow marijuana, then showed them his hydroponic equipment,
including two small marijuana plants and three dead sprouts.  The
deputies seized the equipment and plants, and later turned them over to
the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.  French has not been
charged with any violations of federal drug laws.  

 

A physician prescribed marijuana for French after other medications lost
their effectiveness in controlling pain and severe muscle spasms
stemming from a 1987 motorcycle accident.

 

Simonson said, "With the Compassionate Use Act, New Mexico embarked on
an innovative project to help people who suffer from painful conditions
like Mr. French's.  The law cannot succeed if the threat of arrest by
county and local law enforcement hangs over participants in the program.
With this lawsuit, we hope to clear the way for the State to implement a
sensible, conservative program to apply a drug that traditionally has
been considered illicit for constructive purposes."

 

The ACLU's complaint is available online at:
http://aclu-nm.org/PDF/French_1_17_08.pdf

 

For more information about the national ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, go
to: http://aclu.org/drugpolicy/index.html

 

# # #

 

 

Whitney Potter
Communications Manager
American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico
PO BOX 566, Albuquerque, NM 87103
Tel: (505) 266-5915 ext 1003  |  Cell: (505) 507-9898  |  Fax: (505)
266-5916  |  Email: wpotter at aclu-nm.org  |  Web: aclu-nm.org

 

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