A Durango woman with a medical marijuana card has been found guilty of smoking marijuana in public.
Jessica Voden, 22, must pay almost $500 in fines and court costs, complete 32 hours of community service and serve 15 days on home-detention monitoring.
The Fort Lewis College student defended herself Thursday during a half-day jury trial in La Plata County Court.
The marijuana-smoking incident occurred at 9:07 a.m. Feb. 18 at Fort Lewis College, before she had received her official medical marijuana certificate. Voden was sitting in her parked car at the college when a parking attendant noticed her smoking pot and notified campus police. Police issued Voden a ticket for smoking marijuana in public, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She was found guilty on all three counts.
At the time of her arrest and during her trial, Voden had only paperwork from a physician indicating she was approved to use medical marijuana. She received an official certificate Friday - one day after her jury trial.
Voden said she is considering an appeal because jurors were unable to see her official certificate.
Deputy District Attorney Aaryn Richardson, who prosecuted the case, said it is illegal to smoke medical marijuana in public, and Voden was seen doing it from outside her car.
In an interview Monday, Voden said she lived in Pagosa Springs at the time, and she commuted five days a week to attend school. She left her house at 6:30 a.m. and was at Fort Lewis College from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. It's illegal to smoke marijuana while driving, she said, and Fort Lewis College doesn't provide a place for students to self-medicate.
She said it is ironic that FLC plans to open a bar and grill on campus, but the college shuns the use of medical marijuana.
"So I can go get drunk on campus, but I can't medicate. I find something wrong with that," she said. "I really think that it's not right that Fort Lewis doesn't provide a place to do that."
College spokesman Mitch Davis said the college does not take a position on the medical marijuana debate.
"We're simply following the law," he said. "It's not legal to smoke medical marijuana or any kind of marijuana in public, and that's the law, so that's what the college will uphold."
Voden said she applied for her medical marijuana certificate nine months ago, and it took until Friday for the state to send her an official card.
She receives medical marijuana from Natures Medicine in Durango, where she now works full-time.
She received a medical marijuana card for irritable-bowel syndrome - a condition she said she has struggled with since she was 16 years old.
Durango lawyer Stuart Prall, who represents dispensaries and patients, said patients aren't allowed to smoke in public - that's the bottom line - but it's unfortunate that Voden was left with virtually no other option.
It was unrealistic for her to go home because she lived more than an hour away in Pagosa Springs, he said. The most private location she could smoke was in her car, he said.
"What a gray area," Prall said Monday. "She should not have been smoking it in public, but she was in a difficult position as a patient.
"I think that we've lost sight of what's important - that these patients need to get affordable meds, and we need to stop prosecuting people for using them," he added.
Colorado voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 2000. But it wasn't until October 2009, when the Obama administration said medical marijuana prosecutions would be discouraged on a federal level, that a proliferation of medical marijuana centers opened across the state.
Medical marijuana cardholders are allowed to possess up to 2 ounces of pot or grow up to six plants (three mature, three immature) at a time. They can't consume it in public.
Voden may lose her medical marijuana card as a result of her drug conviction.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Shane Benjamin
Copyright: 2010 The Durango Herald
Jessica Voden, 22, must pay almost $500 in fines and court costs, complete 32 hours of community service and serve 15 days on home-detention monitoring.
The Fort Lewis College student defended herself Thursday during a half-day jury trial in La Plata County Court.
The marijuana-smoking incident occurred at 9:07 a.m. Feb. 18 at Fort Lewis College, before she had received her official medical marijuana certificate. Voden was sitting in her parked car at the college when a parking attendant noticed her smoking pot and notified campus police. Police issued Voden a ticket for smoking marijuana in public, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
She was found guilty on all three counts.
At the time of her arrest and during her trial, Voden had only paperwork from a physician indicating she was approved to use medical marijuana. She received an official certificate Friday - one day after her jury trial.
Voden said she is considering an appeal because jurors were unable to see her official certificate.
Deputy District Attorney Aaryn Richardson, who prosecuted the case, said it is illegal to smoke medical marijuana in public, and Voden was seen doing it from outside her car.
In an interview Monday, Voden said she lived in Pagosa Springs at the time, and she commuted five days a week to attend school. She left her house at 6:30 a.m. and was at Fort Lewis College from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. It's illegal to smoke marijuana while driving, she said, and Fort Lewis College doesn't provide a place for students to self-medicate.
She said it is ironic that FLC plans to open a bar and grill on campus, but the college shuns the use of medical marijuana.
"So I can go get drunk on campus, but I can't medicate. I find something wrong with that," she said. "I really think that it's not right that Fort Lewis doesn't provide a place to do that."
College spokesman Mitch Davis said the college does not take a position on the medical marijuana debate.
"We're simply following the law," he said. "It's not legal to smoke medical marijuana or any kind of marijuana in public, and that's the law, so that's what the college will uphold."
Voden said she applied for her medical marijuana certificate nine months ago, and it took until Friday for the state to send her an official card.
She receives medical marijuana from Natures Medicine in Durango, where she now works full-time.
She received a medical marijuana card for irritable-bowel syndrome - a condition she said she has struggled with since she was 16 years old.
Durango lawyer Stuart Prall, who represents dispensaries and patients, said patients aren't allowed to smoke in public - that's the bottom line - but it's unfortunate that Voden was left with virtually no other option.
It was unrealistic for her to go home because she lived more than an hour away in Pagosa Springs, he said. The most private location she could smoke was in her car, he said.
"What a gray area," Prall said Monday. "She should not have been smoking it in public, but she was in a difficult position as a patient.
"I think that we've lost sight of what's important - that these patients need to get affordable meds, and we need to stop prosecuting people for using them," he added.
Colorado voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 2000. But it wasn't until October 2009, when the Obama administration said medical marijuana prosecutions would be discouraged on a federal level, that a proliferation of medical marijuana centers opened across the state.
Medical marijuana cardholders are allowed to possess up to 2 ounces of pot or grow up to six plants (three mature, three immature) at a time. They can't consume it in public.
Voden may lose her medical marijuana card as a result of her drug conviction.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Shane Benjamin
Copyright: 2010 The Durango Herald
