Huntington Beach police return marijuana to patient

Orange County Superior Court forced police to return more than 30 grams of pot.

David Lucas poses with his pipe and 31.8 grams of medical marijuana returned to him from the Huntington Beach police department. Lucas had a legal prescription for the pot.

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Police handed over about 30 grams of seized medical marijuana and a pipe to a patient Tuesday, marking the first time Huntington Beach police have taken such an action.

This came nearly three weeks after the California Supreme Court declined to review an appellate court ruling, which ordered Garden Grove police to return seized medical marijuana to a patient.

This means the lower court ruling stands, setting a precedent.

It also meant that Huntington Beach resident David Alan Lucas, 43, could retrieve the purple urkel – a higher end marijuana – and a couple of smoking pipes officers confiscated from him more than a year ago.

"I'm surprised, actually," Lucas said. "I was expecting to get the runaround."

Huntington Beach Police Capt. Chuck Thomas said they are complying with the court order.

"We want to stress that this is not a personal issue, this is a matter of doing what the law requests we do," Thomas said. He added that the department doesn't have a policy regarding medical marijuana, adding that it interprets the Compassionate Use Act as protecting medical marijuana recipients from prosecution, not arrest.

David Lucas smells the 31.8 grams of medical marijuana returned to him from the Huntington Beach police department. Lucas had a legal prescription for the pot.

The 1996 law allows people to use medical marijuana in California. Federal law, however, clashes with the law.

Lucas said he'd bought the pot from a medical marijuana dispensary in West Hollywood so he could treat post traumatic stress disorder sparked by long-ago "family problems."

Lucas said his marijuana was first seized by a Huntington Beach police officer who pulled him over and arrested him on suspicion of possession of marijuana.

Lucas said the judge eventually dropped the charges and allowed him to recoup his seized property. After several months of what Lucas called "getting the run around" from officers he waited for the Garden Grove case to make its way to the Supreme Court.

In November, Felix Kha won the right to get his medical marijuana back from police when the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled a Garden Grove police officer illegally took it away from him.

On Tuesday, Lucas unzipped the plastic bags holding the pot and took a long sniff.

"I just hope they don't harass me anymore," he said.

David Lucas, right, shares a laugh with patient advocate Bill Britt after getting 31.8 grams of medical marijuana returned to him from the Huntington Beach police department. Lucas had a legal prescription for the pot.