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adamproperty.JPG
A superior court judge in Washington ordered that property seized during a raid of a medical marijuana user's Colfax home be returned to him after a criminal case against him was dismissed last week. This photo shows items that were returned to him this week, though he claims more valuable plants were destroyed. (Michael Adam Assenberg photo)

Medical marijuana advocate to sue Washington for $6 million

February 6, 2013 @ 5:18 pm (Updated: 9:28 am - 2/7/13 )

A medical marijuana advocate plans to sue the State of Washington for $6 million after property was seized during an illegal raid on his home.

Michael Adam Assenberg, who was arrested in May of 2011 for growing and distributing medicinal marijuana, is on a roll in his battle with authorities.

Last month the Whitman County prosecutor dismissed charges against him citing a new interpretation of medical marijuana laws in Washington state.

Earlier this week, a superior court judge ordered that all property seized during a raid of his Colfax home be returned to him.

For Assenberg, challenging the courts to maintain the rights of medical marijuana users and distributors is nothing compared to what he went through 18 years ago.

He was a security guard for a company in Riverside, California - guarding a place called the Minnesota Mining Company.

"Some people tried to steal some dynamite. I got in the way of their theft and was hit in the back with a baseball bat," he says.

He fell 15 feet off a railroad bridge into a dry riverbed full of boulders.

"I never lost consciousness. I waited for the suspects to leave as if they killed me. Then I tried to stand up and could not feel anything from the bellybutton on down. I ended up crawling up a 45 degree embankment on my hands and elbows, and the police estimated I crawled about 2.5 miles," Assenberg says.

The next thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital, hearing that he had nine broken bones in his spine and would probably never walk again.

Seven years after the attack, Assenberg was walking again but was also having dozens of seizures every day.

"One day after having seven seizures, one right after another, I decided 'Lord, I'm ready to come home' and took one of my serrated steak knives and felt my rib cage really carefully and placed the knife in my heart three times to end my life," he says. "I died once in the ambulance and once on the operating table."

Somehow, he made it through.

After that low point, having tried "everything known to man" to ease his pain, he started using medical marijuana regularly after 2004. Without it "every day is a living hell" he says.

In January of 2011, Assenberg started a medical marijuana business called Compassion for Patients. A few months after that police arrested him for selling narcotics.

"They assumed when they went to my house there would be thousands of dollars in cash and pounds of pot," he says. "They found $90 and seven ounces of marijuana."

Authorities also found 82 immature marijuana plants that were seized and taken out of their containers, destroying them.

"These were strains I worked on for years that I can't replace," he says.

Assenberg says he was growing the plants for distribution to people with medical marijuana cards as a licensed dispensary for the State of Washington, but officials said the state law said a medical marijuana provider could only have one patient at a time. Assenberg says he had one patient and his wife, who was also licensed, had one patient.

The case is finally settled, with the prosecutor asking that charges be dismissed, and Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier siding with Assenberg.

It's not over for him. Assenberg says there's a "bigger issue here."

"I see my attorney Friday to start a $6 million civil suit against the Quad City Drug Task Force, Whitman County and the State of Washington for violating my rights under state law," he says.

"Law enforcement does not want marijuana to go to the people it needs to go to. They're taught that this is illegal no matter what, and they're going to enforce it no matter what we the people say."

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (32)


  • Add A Comment

  • cdbtx wrote...
    Ok Stoners - this is a test
    February 7, 2013 10:08 am
    First - The cops did not simply walk into the house, the had a warrant signed by a judge which required the cops to show probably cause.

    82 Plants - How much pot is produced per plant? Let say that he has a hybrid that flowers early and it's small then conservatively we can say 2 ounces per plant (Although if you look at the photos and the size of the stems - he was not harvesting early

    How many grams per ounce? Let's take the States assumption of $15 per gram. That's the potential for $68K in sales...

    Now stoners.. this one is a bit tougher... how much room would he need to grow 82 plants? How much lighting, how much power would that consume?

    The guy must have a pretty large house to be producing that much pot for a single patient.

    It becomes obvious who the fools/dupes are.

    I support legalizing pot - 100%, but it's not legal.. wish as much as you want... it's not legal.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nervoso wrote...
    Actually
    February 7, 2013 10:58 am
    the judge said it was legal. So, no.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    You act like it's hard for police to get warrants
    February 7, 2013 11:09 am
    In case you hadn't noticed, judges are owned. It matters NOTHING at all if YOU think it should be legal. All that matters is if it's Constitutional or NOT for the Federal Government to legislate a flower. It is NOT Constitutional, so it doesn't matter if you like it or not. I love how people can say "the government should stay out of my life on this thing, but because I don't like something else, then they really need to regulate it". Idiots
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Michael Adam Assenberg wrote...
    Get your facts right.
    February 7, 2013 6:14 pm
    First when the cops got the warrant, they did NOT tell the judge that I was a medical marijuana patient. The Cops did NOT tell the judge that I was onnly providing to others that had the proper paperwork. 46 out of the 82 plants were in a cloning unit less then 1" tall with no roots and the plants I do harvest only give out about one ounce when wet and about 1/3rd ounce when dry. When you cook with it, you use a lot of cannabis. It takes me one ounce of cannabis for just one pound of butter. Also I NEVER charged 15.00 per gram, the most ever was 10.00 and for many I gave it to them for free to help them so that they would never have to be placed in the spot I was once in where I tried to take my like due to pain.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    The judge didn't say it was legal
    February 7, 2013 11:14 am
    The case was dismissed, probably due to a lack of evidence that this guy is a freaking drug dealer. The article says the judge sided with Assenberg, I doubt that means he apologized for the trouble and beers were on him afterwards. 82 plants - This guy isn't the recreational user next door...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nervoso wrote...
    You must not be listening clearly
    February 7, 2013 12:22 pm
    the judge found that he wasn't doing anything illegal, that means it's LEGAL, which part of that don't you understand? Did you fail reading comprehension?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Michael Adam Assenberg wrote...
    I love feeding Trolls
    February 7, 2013 6:26 pm
    Shark, If you would do your research before you post, then you would discover under the Washington State Constitution at ARTICLE I, SECTION 12 No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, class of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens, or corporations. I was going to force the Mayor into court to talk about the 130 shops selling marijuana in seattle to show that my equal rights were not being protected and if you were to look up SECTION 29, then you would learn that, The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise. Cops are very dumb in this reguard and since I would take no plea deal they dropped the case so the Mayor would not be heard. PLEASE go back to school and learn something smart to bring into this topic so we can all learn from it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    ugh.
    February 7, 2013 11:35 am
    it's legal in WA NOW people.

    it's gonna be legal all over soon enough. the feds aren't far away from just being done with fighting something they can't win.

    time to just deal with it.

    if you don't smoke, it won't change a thing for you. if you do, well...have fun.

    regardless, it's happening. like it, or not.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dexterjibs wrote...
    oh please
    February 7, 2013 12:10 pm
    tax payers should not be on the hook for this guy's loss of pot plants. Dismiss this lawsuit, it is frivilous.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Michael Adam Assenberg wrote...
    Tax payers are already on the hook
    February 7, 2013 6:33 pm
    You may not know this but cops get paid with YOUR tax dollars, so do judges and your tax dollars are going to pay for everyone that's locked up over a plant. While this is being done, YOUR tax money is being given to pill makers for man made marijuana pills. For one month of Dronabinol ( a man made marijuana pill ), it cost YOU a total of $1,724.00 PER BOTTLE of ( 90 ) Ten MG Pills that last for one month. Your ALREADY on the hook to pill makers in the sum of billions for man made marijuana pills. The Tax payers will NOT be on the "hook" for this as this will slap them hard enough to where they will have to cut back on raids.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • jstumbo wrote...
    and the first pothead...
    February 7, 2013 3:57 pm
    Smoking pot next to my toddler daughter while waiting for the bus is going to get my foot up his a55. You can't give my daughter a drink of beer and you can't give her second hand pot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nervoso wrote...
    smoking pot in public is a misdemeanor
    February 7, 2013 4:00 pm
    sticking your foot up someones a55 is felony assault, have fun providing for your daughter without the ability to get a good job and no money after having your pants sued off.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nervoso wrote...
    actually, smoking pot in public isn't even a misdemeanor
    February 7, 2013 4:03 pm
    it's a civil infraction, a ticket.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }