Jun 14, 2007 9:52 pm US/Mountain
Marine Charged With Growing Marijuana
Prepared for cbs4denver.com by Matthew J. Buettner, Web Producer.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) ―
A combat veteran of Desert Storm, who said he uses marijuana to ease the pain from a war injury, is now the focus of a court case in Arapahoe County. He faces prison time for a charge of cultivating the plant.
Kevin Dickes, 38, a former Marine who was badly wounded by an enemy grenade while serving in Kuwait, said he smokes marijuana to ease his pain and has a state-approved medical marijuana license to grow it. However, he was still arrested in April when Aurora SWAT teams entered his home after a neighbor complained.
"They took me down," Dickes said. "They didn't give me a chance to speak. They had guns to my face. I never had that happen before in my life, even in Kuwait."
In Kuwait, a grenade tore Dickes' leg from his ankle to his stomach and he said marijuana is the only thing that helps his pain.
"I use it for pain," Dickes said. "It helps me tremendously. The narcotics get me sick, nausea, you throw up."
Dickes' attorney, Robert Corry, Jr., said he has a license to possess, cultivate and use medical marijuana.
Police confiscated at least 60 plants from Dickes' home. The state medical marijuana law sets a guideline of six, but Corry said there is confusion as to how many plants are actually permitted.
"Whatever number he had was the number that he needed medically," Corry said. "And that's what the law says. You can have as many plants as you medically need."
Corry said he thinks the district attorney is hanging his hat on the fact they say there were too many plants.
"I think we can easily show the amount of plants he had was medically necessary to address his debilitating medical condition," Corry said.
Dickes' is charged with marijuana cultivation which is a class-four felony that carries a possible six-year prison sentence.
There are 1,500 to 2,000 people in Colorado licensed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
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