TWIN CITIES RETURNS POT TO GREENBRAE MAN

A Greenbrae man walked into Twin Cities police headquarters in Larkspur
yesterday and left with 14 mature marijuana plants and about seven ounces
of dried pot.

A court order issued by Marin County Judge Verna Adams required police to
return the marijuana, which was confiscated from the home of Robert Voelker
on Aug. 2.

The Marin District Attorney's Office dropped charges against Voelker last
month after a lengthy investigation. Assistant District Attorney Edward
Berberian said the charges were withdrawn because, after his arrest,
Voelker was able to secure a legitimate doctor's recommendation as required
under Proposition 215.

Voelker, a construction worker, says he uses marijuana to ease back pain.

"I understand it's not easy for them," said Voelker's attorney, Lawrence
Bragman, referring to the police. "It's definitely a paradigm shift."

"This is the first time the county has ever returned pot to a patient,"
said Lynnette Shaw, founding director of the Marin Alliance for Medical
Marijuana.

Twin Cities Police Chief Phil Green said he consulted with Tom Bertrand,
the department's attorney, before complying with the order.

"He said we have no option but to return the marijuana, all of it,
everything that we seized," Green said. He noted that police did not
confiscate six other plants and a half-pound of dried marijuana when they
raided Voelker's trailer home in August. Voelker was allowed to keep that
marijuana in an effort to follow the policy laid down by the District
Attorney's Office, Green said.

In September 1999, the District Attorney's Office issued guidelines to
local law enforcement agencies to give them some idea under what conditions
it would prosecute individuals for marijuana possession and cultivation if
they have a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana.

To avoid prosecution under the guidelines, individuals may have no more
than six mature (budding or flowering) plants, or 12 immature plants, or a
half-pound of dried marijuana.

Even though the amount of marijuana returned to Voelker yesterday exceeded
these limits, Green said he didn't check with the District Attorney's
Office. "That is because I don't think the guidelines mean anything," Green
said.

Berberian, who was not available for comment yesterday, has said that his
office's guidelines provide minimum standards but no guarantee of prosecution.

This was the second time that Voelker's home had been raided by Twin Cities
police, and the second time that the District Attorney's Office didn't
prosecute.

In 1998, police confiscated 31 marijuana plants and three pounds of dried
pot. When the District Attorney's Office decided not to prosecute, Voelker
filed a $30,000 claim against the police to get his plants back and a
$5,000 small claims suit. Both were rejected and his plants were never
returned.

District Attorney Paula Kamena faces a recall election in May due in large
part to the efforts of Shaw, who spearheaded an effort to gather nearly
14,000 valid signatures to force the special election. Shaw contends Kamena
has not complied with Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of
marijuana.

Twin Cities police Officer Jim Shirk said that if Voelker's 16 plants been
allowed to fully mature they could have produced 48 to 80 pounds of useable
marijuana or roughly 88,000 marijuana cigarettes. But Voelker's estimate is
much lower - only seven to 10 pounds of dried marijuana.

"I don't think Robert was taking advantage of anything other than
exercising his rights under the law," Bragman said.