PFlynn
New Member
Texas - A man acquitted of marijuana possession in an Amarillo court Tuesday said he's going to try prescription drugs to combat his nausea and vomiting.
Tim Stevens, 53, was arrested in October by Amarillo police and charged with possessing less than four grams of marijuana. He has Human Immunodeficiency Virus and says he uses the marijuana for medicinal purposes.
An Amarillo jury acquitted Stevens, who suffers from nausea and cyclical vomiting syndrome, which causes chronic vomiting.
Stevens said he'd never been in trouble with the law before and was pleased with the verdict.
"I feel good in the sense that I think that it's pretty clear the public is ahead of the government. There are some compassionate uses of marijuana," he said.
Attorney Jeff Blackburn, who represented Stevens, said he hopes the case will set a far-reaching "political precedent."
Stevens' defense centered around the necessity defense - the necessity that Stevens uses marijuana for medical purposes to avoid imminent harm was of greater importance than the law being broken, Blackburn said.
"I think this could easily represent a trend, and I strongly, strongly hope other medical marijuana users will get aggressive lawyers and fight any charges that come their way," Blackburn said. "If jurors in a conservative part of a conservative state are willing to give a guy like Tim a break, I bet they are in other parts of the state."
Potter County Attorney Scott Brumley said Stevens had enough marijuana to roll eight joints.
"Had this guy been in his home using it, it is reasonable to say this issue wouldn't have come up," Brumley said. "This guy isn't the first one who has come to court with a sad story to supposedly excuse criminal conduct.
"In the end, our position was and continues to be the law doesn't allow for medicinal marijuana. ... Until the legislature decides different, our job is not to decide what the law should be."
Dr. Steve Jenison testified in Stevens' case as an ordinary citizen on the use of medicinal marijuana.
"A lot of these people who are using it medically smoke a really, really small amount of it and derive a benefit from those small doses. Most of them aren't at it to get high," said Jenison, medical director for the New Mexico Department of Health's Infectious Disease Bureau.
Stevens said he is going to get a prescription for a pharmaceutical version of marijuana known as Marinol, though he's doubtful it will stay in his system long enough to work.
"Hopefully, I won't have to take something like that every day," he said. "I will abide by Texas law or relocate to New Mexico, where ... (it's) available to people like me."
Note: Says he used marijuana medicinally.
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2008 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact: letters@amarillonet.com
Website: Amarillo.com
Tim Stevens, 53, was arrested in October by Amarillo police and charged with possessing less than four grams of marijuana. He has Human Immunodeficiency Virus and says he uses the marijuana for medicinal purposes.
An Amarillo jury acquitted Stevens, who suffers from nausea and cyclical vomiting syndrome, which causes chronic vomiting.
Stevens said he'd never been in trouble with the law before and was pleased with the verdict.
"I feel good in the sense that I think that it's pretty clear the public is ahead of the government. There are some compassionate uses of marijuana," he said.
Attorney Jeff Blackburn, who represented Stevens, said he hopes the case will set a far-reaching "political precedent."
Stevens' defense centered around the necessity defense - the necessity that Stevens uses marijuana for medical purposes to avoid imminent harm was of greater importance than the law being broken, Blackburn said.
"I think this could easily represent a trend, and I strongly, strongly hope other medical marijuana users will get aggressive lawyers and fight any charges that come their way," Blackburn said. "If jurors in a conservative part of a conservative state are willing to give a guy like Tim a break, I bet they are in other parts of the state."
Potter County Attorney Scott Brumley said Stevens had enough marijuana to roll eight joints.
"Had this guy been in his home using it, it is reasonable to say this issue wouldn't have come up," Brumley said. "This guy isn't the first one who has come to court with a sad story to supposedly excuse criminal conduct.
"In the end, our position was and continues to be the law doesn't allow for medicinal marijuana. ... Until the legislature decides different, our job is not to decide what the law should be."
Dr. Steve Jenison testified in Stevens' case as an ordinary citizen on the use of medicinal marijuana.
"A lot of these people who are using it medically smoke a really, really small amount of it and derive a benefit from those small doses. Most of them aren't at it to get high," said Jenison, medical director for the New Mexico Department of Health's Infectious Disease Bureau.
Stevens said he is going to get a prescription for a pharmaceutical version of marijuana known as Marinol, though he's doubtful it will stay in his system long enough to work.
"Hopefully, I won't have to take something like that every day," he said. "I will abide by Texas law or relocate to New Mexico, where ... (it's) available to people like me."
Note: Says he used marijuana medicinally.
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2008 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact: letters@amarillonet.com
Website: Amarillo.com
