Tempe Police reported the following incident Tuesday:
A 46-year-old Tempe man was arrested July 10 at the intersection of West 7th Street and South Hardy Drive on suspicion of marijuana possession, according to a police report.
Police contacted the man after a complainant allegedly witnessed the man pass an item back and forth on the corner in what appeared to be a drug deal, police reported.
Upon contact, the officer asked the man is he had any weapons or drugs on his person, to which the man replied that he possessed some medicinal marijuana, according to the report.
The man said that he had a medical marijuana card from California, which he showed to the officer, police reported.
The ID was a card stock business card with “patient status verified” written across the top from the Purple Heart Patient Center that said it was not valid without a current California ID, according to the report.
On the back of the card was the man’s name, his California ID information and a listed expiration date from 2013, police reported.
Nowhere did the card state that its intended use was for medical marijuana, according to the report.
The California ID had also expired in 2014, which the man acknowledged, later admitting that he had obtained the marijuana from his brother, police reported.
The man carried approximately three grams of marijuana in a small ziplock bag at the time of police contact, according to the report.
The man was booked into Tempe City Jail and released on pending drug charges, police reported.
Reach the reporter at aplante@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @aimeenplante
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