>From: "Peter McWilliams" <peter@mcwilliams.com>
>Subject: Another victory
>Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 08:16:52 -0800
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>
>Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jan 2000
>       Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA)
>       Copyright: 2000 Redding Record Searchlight - E.W.  Scripps
>       Contact: letters@redding.com
>       Address: PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397
>       Website: http://www.redding.com/
>       Forum: http://www.redding.com/disc2_frm.htm
>       Author: Alex Breitler, Record Searchlight, abreitler@redding.com
>
>       PATIENT WILL GET HIS POT BACK
>
>       Says Return Marks Win For Medicinal Users
>
>       It's been 20 months since authorities confiscated 41 seedling
>marijuana plants from the back
>       yard of Richard Levin's house in Redding.
>
>       Today, Levin will get his plants back, along with 1 pounds of
>packaged marijuana, several
>       scales and three guns also taken from his home on May 6, 1998.
>
>       The plants are long dead, but the 49-year-old Levin - acquitted
>Dec.  15 on charges of
>       possessing marijuana for sale - said Monday that their return
>marks a symbolic victory for
>       anyone using pot for medicinal purposes under California's
>Proposition 215.
>
>       The law, passed by voters in 1996, allows for medical marijuana
>use with a doctor's
>       prescription.  It allows patients to grow a "reasonable amount" of
>plants but does not set a
>       specific limit.
>
>       While some counties - including Tehama - have established
>guidelines for compliance with
>       Proposition 215, Shasta County has not.
>
>       "I'm real happy," Levin said Monday after learning a court order
>had been filed Friday
>       mandating the return of his plants.  "It proves this is a real
>law.  It's not a big fake."
>
>       Authorities also will return several packages of marijuana seeds
>and a marijuana grower's
>       handbook.
>
>       Levin was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1991.  Two years later, he
>slipped on the icy floor of
>       a house he was helping build and fell three stories, requiring
>four back surgeries.
>
>       Afraid of damaging his liver with prescription drugs, Levin turned
>to marijuana in 1994 with
>       an oral recommendation from his doctor.  Four years later, after
>receiving a tip that Levin had
>       an outdoor garden, sheriff's officials got a search warrant, found
>the plants and arrested
>       Levin.
>
>       Immediately after last month's verdict, Levin said he would have
>to talk with law enforcement
>       officials before deciding whether it's safe to resume cultivating
>marijuana.  He said Monday
>       that he has an appointment this week with Shasta County Sheriff
>Jim Pope to discuss the
>       county's enforcement of the law.
>
>       And while the dead plants returned today will probably end up in
>his compost pile, Levin also
>       said there's no doubt he'll return to growing the drug that he
>claims eases his pain.
>
>       "I don't have anything to hide," he said.  "Yeah, I'm going to
>continue growing."
>
>       Reporter Alex Breitler can be reached at 225-8344 or at
>abreitler@redding.com .
>
>
>
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