Marijuana charge goes up in smoke

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - After getting his medical marijuana back from South Lake Tahoe Police, Matthew Macosko smoked some of it in the police station's parking lot.

Macosko retrieved the marijuana late last week after police confiscated it nearly six months ago.

"The law is starting to work for me and I'm happy," Macosko said. "There's a lot of propaganda behind it making it illegal."

The 27-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident got his marijuana back because of California's Proposition 215.

The law, which passed in 1996, allows physicians to issue certificates that "ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes."

Macosko said he uses marijuana, mostly by cooking with "ganja oil and butter," to alleviate pain, an attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

"I use it to help stimulate my appetite and help me fall asleep and calm my nerves," he said. "I got off Ritalin. I got off Prozac. I think I have anxiety because I took all those pills when I was young."

Macosko obtained his medicinal marijuana certificate from Dr. William S. Eidelman in Santa Monica, Calif. Eidelman could not be reached for comment because he's on vacation.

Macosko was stopped Jan. 19 by an officer who noticed an expired registration tag on his orange Volkswagen van. They arrested him for driving under the influence, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and driving with a suspended license.

All of the charges against Macosko were dropped except for one, driving with a suspended license. That charge was reduced to driving without holding a valid license for which Macosko was fined $400.

"I wasn't smoking when I got pulled over," he said. "I was completely sober."

Macosko didn't have his medicinal certificate when he was pulled over because he had left it at a friend's house.

Nearly six months after his arrest, Macosko was given his marijuana back from police after public defender Ken Bonham filed a request motion for return of property. El Dorado Superior Court Judge Jerry Lasarow approved it.

"Matt said, 'I want my medicine back,'" Bonham said. "It's the first time I've made such a motion. To the credit of the DA and the police department ... they, I think, did the right thing."

Assistant District Attorney Hans M. Uthe, who represented El Dorado County at the property hearing, said marijuana is contraband and not usually returned, but in Macosko's case the amount of marijuana was clearly for personal use.

"This is the first time we've had such a property order," Uthe said.

He also said that issues related to the Proposition 215, such as how much one person is allowed to grow for medicinal use, are still being debated.

Macosko grows marijuana but said he doesn't sell it. He shares it with people sick with cancer, epilepsy and other diseases.

"I give out about half a pound a week in food I cook," he said. "I think it needs to be taxed. There needs to be a club."