ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Johns County couple may be getting some of their belongings back after they were seized during a raid on their home after sheriff's deputies said they were possessing marijuana with intent to manufacture.
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office raided Marsha and Scott Yandell's house in February, after officers said they found enough marijuana in the couple's trash to "get an entire middle school high for the summer."
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The couple's lawyer and legal administrator claim a Florida statute that's been in effect since 2001 allows a person to possess and cultivate marijuana legally, if the patient has a prescription from a doctor.
New documents were filed with the state that would allow for the return of many of the couple's personal items that were seized during the raid on Feb. 11.
READ: Motion for the return of evidence prior to trial
The paperwork states that if property seized does not match the description of items that were supposed to be taken by officials in the original warrant then the Yandell's have a right to have those belongings returned.
Also if there is not a viable reason for law enforcement to keep their belongings as it relates to the case, so long as it isn't firearms or drug paraphernalia, then the Yandells should be allowed to keep those possessions.
The Yandells are still facing charges on drug trafficking and are expected back in court to face those charges.
A local physician and lawyer told News4Jax that the law is very vague and could be interpreted differently when it comes to the Yandells' claims that they were legally cultivating marijuana because of their prescription for medicinal use of the drug.
The law -- Florida Statute 456.41 -- essentially states that people can make "informed choices for any type of health care they deem to be an effective option" for treating certain medical conditions. The Yandells' legal team, Health Law Services, claims that should include medical marijuana if a physician says it's necessary.
"I would not be prescribing it. I would not use those terms to try and show that my prescribing it was within the law," said Dr. Harold Laski of Southside Medical Center.
Laski said Florida Statute 456.41, outlining a health care practitioner's options when prescribing medication, is broad and could be interpreted differently depending on who reads it.
The law says, "It is the intent of the Legislature that citizens be able to make informed choices for any type of health care they deem to be an effective option for treating human disease, pain, injury, deformity, or other physical or mental condition."
"This is where the problem lies: The word 'any.' Does this mean any legal? Or does this mean any?" Laski said. "What if someone wanted to use meth and said to them this was an alternative medicine? What if we wanted to use heroin? These are obviously illegal, and illegal in virtually every state in the U.S. Would this give them the ability to say, 'Hey, I have a doctor that says I need it'? And therefore this says any. I think the intent was more to be 'any legal' rather than just any. I think they just worded it wrong."
Health Law Services said if the alternative option is a controlled substance, then Chapter 893 of Florida law must provide an exemption for medical use.
Laski also pointed out that if marijuana for medical necessity was already legal, the state Legislature wouldn't have needed to pass the Charlotte's web law. Florida passed a law in 2014 allowing for a low-THC form of medical marijuana to be used.
The Yandells, who bonded out of the St. Johns County Jail after appearing in court claim they were within their legal rights to possess marijuana in their home, because they had the approval of a doctor. According to their legal team, Health Law services, Florida Statute 456.41 doesn't strike out marijuana as an option. They said if a doctor prescribes it, it's legal. They also claim with that very prescription, it's legal to manufacture it for their own medical use, because they say state laws define cannabis to include the manufacturing process.
"It looks like they've looked at different areas of the law and determined certain things fit the bill," Jacksonville attorney Mitch Stone said. "It's a good creative lawyer, I'll give them that. What would definitely create an issue, where the rubber meets the road in any type of situation like this, is how the courts are going to interpret what their interpretation is."
Stone said the entire situation carries risk.
"In my view, it's not clearly defined, and it may be something that they ultimately are right on, but you have to be willing as a person who's going to engage in this, you have to be willing to understand where the fight is going to be involved in, and it might be in the criminal court system with your freedom at risk," Stone said.
Stone said right now, in his opinion, Florida law states very clearly that possessing, manufacturing or distributing marijuana is illegal and could result in serious jail time. He said until the law changes, trying to interpret existing laws is probably not going to work.