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Erlend Halsnes is the victim of mistaken identity.

Halsnes, 25, was arrested March 1 when a Colorado State Patrol trooper mistook shaved ginger found in Halsnes' car for psilocybin mushrooms. Halsnes had faced charges of possession of a Schedule 1 controlled substance, driving under the influence of drugs and careless driving.

After Colorado Bureau of Investigation tests showed last week that the substance was indeed ginger, the District Attorney's Office dropped the felony charges that Halsnes faced, said Paul Sachs, Halsnes' attorney.

Halsnes said Monday that he told police all along that the substance was ginger root, which he uses as an immunity booster and to freshen his breath.

"Personally, my feelings were kind of hurt," he said. "They gave me a roadside sobriety test. I was treated like a drunk or a person on drugs."

Halsnes faces charges of careless driving, a misdemeanor.

It was icy the night of March 1, when Halsnes was driving his green Ford Ranger on U.S. Highway 40.

Near the U.S. 40 intersection with Walton Creek Road, a car had slid into a light pole, and shortly after, a second car slid into the first car. While Steamboat police were investigating the accidents, Halsnes hit the same patch of ice and slid into the police car.

At the scene, State Patrol Trooper Kirk Gardner asked Halsnes to submit to a roadside sobriety test. Halsnes said he told Gardner over and over that the substance the trooper found was ginger.

Still, the officer arrested Halsnes.

Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Jim Copley said Monday he was not familiar with the case and could not comment specifically, but he said State Patrol procedure is to always confiscate and test any substance thought to be illegal, regardless of what the substance's owner says.

"If we think there is a suspected substance in a car or on a person, it would be tested for whatever we thought it was," he said.

Copley said if Gardner --who was not available for comment Monday night -- thought someone involved in an accident was driving under the influence or possessing an illegal substance, the substance would be confiscated and the owner would be taken into custody.

Sachs said Halsnes did nothing wrong beyond losing control of his car in bad weather. "(Halsnes) tells them the ginger is for his health, that it's homeopathic," Sachs said. "But of course, they don't believe him.

"I understand where the police are coming from, but (Halsnes) and his family have experienced a lot of anguish over this, because he didn't even do anything."

Sachs said the same thing had happened to Halsnes' brother, Brede Halsnes, last year when Brede Halsnes was stopped in Silverthorne driving Erlend Halsnes' Ranger. Brede Halsnes was stopped for speeding, and the police officers in that case found the ginger root and thought it was psilocybin. After an investigation, prosecutors dropped the charges against Brede Halsnes after reports confirmed the substance was ginger.

"It was unfortunate and a little ironic that his little brother took (Erlend's) car and got stopped," Sachs said. "That's why I knew what it was."

Halsnes said he was surprised that law enforcement officers don't have the education to differentiate between ginger and mushrooms.

"I am disappointed the proper knowledge wasn't there. They should know the difference between a narcotic and something you can buy at City Market," he said. "You should know what you're doing when you're dealing with drugs whether it be garden flower or cocaine."

"None of this should have ever happened."