FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 15, 2008 CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003 or Dan Berger, ACLU DLRP (917) 602-2445
CARLSBAD – According to a sworn affidavit filed yesterday 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.
Yesterday’s affidavit is available online at: www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/medmarijuana/34141lgl20080214.html
The ACLU’s legal filing is available online at: www.aclu-nm.org/PDF/French_1_17_08.pdf

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Related Documents:

14-Feb-2008 Affidavit

17-Jan-2008 Press Release

French Complaint

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ACLU Drug Law Reform Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2008
CONTACT: Whitney Potter, ACLU of New Mexico, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or 507-9898; [email protected]
ALBUQUERQUE—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit today against the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) for failing to protect inmate Roman Gallardo from physical and sexual assault by another prisoner while Gallardo was incarcerated for a DWI offense in 2006.  The rape took place after Gallardo, an openly gay man, was forced to share a cell with an inmate who was known to have sexually assaulted at least one other prisoner.
“Jail officials knowingly placed Mr. Gallardo in a dangerous situation,” said Peter Simonson, ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director.  “Their failure to adequately train and supervise detention officers and provide safeguards against physical and sexual violence amounted to deliberate indifference towards Gallardo’s safety, rights, and bodily integrity.”
According to ACLU legal papers, inmates and custody officers knew that Gallardo was gay and ridiculed him on a daily basis.  The director of MDC, Ronald Torres, failed to address the situation and, in January, 2006, allowed Gallardo to be housed in a cell with inmate Niklas Trujeque.
Months earlier, Torres and former jail director Harry Tipton had received a letter from an Albuquerque attorney informing them that the attorney’s client had been raped by Trujeque while incarcerated at MDC.
Roman Gallardo made the following statement, “I was denied my rights as a human being while I was under the care of MDC, and they didn’t care for my well being. I don't want this to happen to anyone else, male or female.  It is wrong and can be prevented.”
Attorneys in the lawsuit are Kari Morrissey, cooperating attorney for the ACLU and George Bach, ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney.  In addition to Ronald Torres, the ACLU’s legal complaint cites the City of Albuquerque and the Bernalillo County Commission as defendants.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

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Related Documents:

MDC Complaint

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 17, 2008
CONTACT: Whitney Potter, ACLU of New Mexico, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or 507-9898
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: https://www.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

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Related Documents:

French Complaint

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14-Feb-2008 Affidavit

15-Feb-2008 Press Release

ACLU Drug Law Reform Project