****Pot news****

[clhp20]

When 71-year-old Robert DeArkland discovered he had prostate cancer in addition to his sciatica and arthritis, he asked his Sausalito psychiatrist to recommend marijuana to ease the pain.

DeArkland bought 13 small pot plants from an Oakland medical marijuana club. DeArkland, a retired home inspector and construction worker who lives north of Sacramento, began having serious health problems in 1987, when he had a heart attack. He later developed sciatica, a painful nerve ailment in his lower back and legs, and arthritis in his hands.

"I'm in constant pain," said DeArkland, adding that his prescription for Percodan isn't sufficient. "It's real severe. My kneecaps get so sore I can't even touch them."


Shortly after sunrise on Oct. 1, a team of sheriff's deputies from Sacramento and Placer Counties, clad in camouflage jumpsuits and bearing a search warrant and machine guns, smashed through DeArkland's door.

The officers scattered his flock of geese, detained his two teenagers, who had been preparing for school, and handcuffed DeArkland. He told them he had terminal prostate cancer, that the marijuana was recommended by a doctor and that the plants were in his barn.

Deputies seized 13 plants

The deputies seized the 13 plants, all less than 2 feet tall, lights used for growing them, fertilizer, $424 in cash, 1.5 grams of dried pot and a letter from Schoenfeld.

During the raid, DeArkland had trouble breathing, and was taken to a hospital where he was put under observation, released and went home. He heard nothing more from the police, he said.

This February, a doctor recommended that he have radiation therapy for his prostate. DeArkland went to the Sacramento district attorney's office to inquire about his case and was arrested for what officials told him was an outstanding warrant stemming from the raid, he said.

He was charged with cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale, two felonies that could net sentences ranging from 16 months to three years and 8 months in jail, and released on $10,000 bail, said his Sacramento lawyer, Joseph Farina.

But after court hearings, Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence. He declined to discuss details of the case, but said he believed Prop. 215 has caused confusion among law-enforcement officials because it did not specify the number of plants or illnesses that it covered.

In June, the sheriff's deputies returned DeArkland's property and plants.

"They were dead. They were dried up. Hell, they don't water anything," DeArkland said.

He filed a $25�million claim against Placer County that contends deputies wrongfully raided his home and arrested him. He filed a similar $10�million claim against Sacramento County. Both were rejected.

DeArkland also filed a claim with his insurance firm, CGU of Boston, estimating that the plants were worth about $20,500. DeArkland said he based his estimate on police figures that each mature plant would produce four ounces of dried marijuana worth $400 an ounce.

Insurer balked

At first the firm was skeptical, writing him that his insurance contract applied "only if it is not obviously illegal, immoral or against the public good."

"It appears the Placer County Sheriff's Department used a valid search warrant to confiscate the plants, which may not be the same as stealing the plants," an adjustor wrote him.

But the firm relented after DeArkland showed he had medical approval and, by July, the only issue was the plants' value.

"I realize the value at maturity approximates $20,500," wrote adjustor L. Bruce Bogart. "However the plants were not at maturity. Thus, we need to try to agree on a value . . ."

On Aug. 19, the firm sent DeArkland a check for $6,500, after deciding to cover the plants under the shrubbery clause of his policy, which provides a maximum payment of $500 per plant.

Bogart declined to comment on the case, saying only that he knew of no other claims paid for medical marijuana. "I'm quite happy with the insurance company," said DeArkland.

©1999 San Francisco Examiner

[co2boi]

right on brutha

[skinnyhb]

hehe, the adjusters name was Bogart

[fitnessguy]

$400 an ounce? must be some goodie
I guess you can't argue with a 6500 dollar check. However 35 mil woulda been better!

[co2boi]

$400 an ounce? must be some goodie

That's what I was thinking. **** if I'd pay half of that.

[SplinterCell]

400 bucks an ounce? ****, I dont do rec drugs and never will but FACK even If I did I wouldent spend 1/4 of that!!!

[clhp20]

They actually paid him $100 more then he was asking. He was asking for 400 a plant. they gave him 500 per plant... LMAO...



I didn't catch that before, The adjusters name is BOGART.... Now that is funny.