Medical pot card doesn’t help defendant

Judge orders woman sent to prison for drug use while free on bond

Jasmine Davis has a medical marijuana card, but after she was charged last year with selling crack cocaine in New London, a Superior Court judge ordered her not to use any drugs while free on bond.

Davis, 24, who was being monitored by the Department of Adult Probation while her court case is pending, had been reporting to the Community Solutions Alternative in the Community (AIC) office in New London about twice a week for urine and breath tests, according to her file in New London Superior Court.

Davis has consistently tested positive for THC, the psychoactive chemical compound in marijuana, to the displeasure of Judge Hillary B. Strackbein.

Recent test results indicated Davis had also used cocaine, and on Monday the judge sent Davis to prison and asked the Court Support Services Division to interview Davis about inpatient treatment.

“There’s a significant problem, Ms. Davis,” Strackbein said. “You’re positive for very high levels of THC and cocaine. I have no option but to raise your bond and try to get you some help.”

Davis’ attorney, William T. Koch Jr., said the positive results for marijuana should be removed from the case, since Davis can legally purchase and use marijuana. He argued to keep Davis out in the community, noting she has been working. The judge disagreed. “The fact that you have a marijuana card does not excuse you,” Strackbein. “They say marijuana is supposed to keep people off other drugs. The court disagrees.”

As of mid-June, 26,557 Connecticut residents are registered with the state’s medical marijuana program, nearly 3,000 of them in New London County.

“I don’t see how it can be a condition for someone who has a card,” Koch said after court adjourned. “How can a judge set it as a condition of release when a doctor has given you a prescription? Would you test someone for a cancer drug?”

Eduardo M. Palmieri, director of probation & bail services for the state Judicial Branch, said quite a few people under supervision are medical marijuana card holders and that the agency, after consultation with legal staff, has decided to treat medical marijuana card holders just like they treat holders of other prescriptions. The agency verifies whether somebody’s card, or prescription, is valid.

The agency is still trying to figure out what level of THC is appropriate

for somebody who is using marijuana medically. Courts don’t specify which drugs should be tested for, and standard drug test panels include THC.

“The judges have a lot of concern over it,” Palmieri said in a phone interview. “We have a lot of concern over it, and the only thing we can do right now is treat it is as if it’s a prescription.”

Marijuana prescriptions must be filled at dispensaries, and under the state rules allowing for their use, qualifying patients cannot be an inmate confined in a correctional institution or facility under the supervision of the Department of Correction.

Davis’ court file does not indicate what ailment qualifies her for a marijuana card.

Her pending charges include sale of cocaine, possession of marijuana and, in an unrelated case, disorderly conduct and sixth-degree larceny. The state alleges Davis sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant while working with her boyfriend, Rashard “Flex” Johnson to distribute the drug in New London in early 2017. His case is pending in the same court.

She is due back in court on July 24.