Created: 5/10/2009 11:07:40 PM 
BRIGHTON, CO -- Pot ruined her prom. Now 18-year-old Sarah Heideman wants the school district she says turned her away from the dance to pay for her dress, her dinner, her hair and her tickets.
It's an unusual request from someone who was apparently turned away for smelling like marijuana.
But clearly this is an unusual case, a case that calls into question the public's acceptance of the state's medical marijuana registry.
"It was so humiliating," explained Heideman on Wednesday as she, her boyfriend, and an attorney discussed the incident outside of Brighton High School.
"I was not allowed inside," she said.
Saturday night, Heideman and her date Jason Schweinsberg attempted to go into Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver for the Brighton High School Prom.
That's when someone at the door apparently smelled marijuana. It's unclear who exactly turned the couple away. Heideman says a Brighton High School Resource Officer did. A Brighton Police Department spokesperson says that's not true, that a school official did. And a spokesperson for the school district says a Denver Police officer did. DPD was called to the scene because the prom was being held in Denver.
Regardless, it's clear the couple never made it inside.
That's despite the fact that Schweinsberg, 20, is currently allowed to use marijuana under the state's medical marijuana program. On Wednesday, he said he uses it to deal with intense pain that stems from a serious traffic accident, an accident which left him with, among other things, a fractured skull.
"I didn't feel like we did anything wrong. Why should I be excluded?" he said.
Schweinsberg said he used marijuana the morning of the prom but "hadn't used in hours" by the time he arrived at the door.
Heideman insisted she's never used marijuana.
"It just seems like they don't care that they ruined a perfectly good night," she said.
School officials believe the incident was handled properly. Saying the school district has the responsibility to protect the safety of all of its students, Janet Wyatt, an attorney for the district, said technically Heideman wasn't denied access. Wyatt insisted only her date was barred entry, a claim Heideman later claimed was untrue.
"They didn't find marijuana on either one of them or in their vehicle," Robert Corry, Heideman's attorney, said on Wednesday. "We are looking for an apology."
He also said he'd like Heideman to be paid $80 for her prom tickets, $200 for her dress, $60 for their dinner, and $120 for her hair appointment.
Wyatt said it's too early to talk about that.
"This is the first we've heard about it so obviously we haven't had a chance to discuss that," she said.
The Colorado Medical Marijuana ID Database currently has over 5,000 people in it. It includes three people under the age of 18.
Corry said he's considering a lawsuit.
