Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
In July 2000, 36-year-old Matthew Ducheneaux was arrested for smoking marijuana in a park in South Dakota. Ducheneaux was a quadriplegic who used marijuana with his doctor's permission to treat violent muscle spasms. Wheelchair-bound since a 1985 car accident, Ducheneaux had tried Valium, codeine, and even Marinol to treat spasms that cause his legs to shake so violently that the floor of his home trembles in response. Nothing calmed his tremors, and many of the drugs he tried had undesirable side effects, including hair loss, extreme drowsiness, and liver toxicity. After finding that marijuana treated his spasms, Ducheneaux sought permission to use marijuana. In 1988, he was approved for a now-discontinued program through which seriously ill people can obtain marijuana from the federal government. However, the federal government required such strong security measures for pharmacies serving patients in the program — such as 24-hour armed guards — that Ducheneaux could not find a local pharmacy willing to comply, so he had to find marijuana from friends or drug dealers. Ducheneaux asked his doctor for a note saying he used marijuana for medical purposes, hoping that such a note might prove useful if he were ever to get into trouble with the law. The note stated, "Matthew is quadriplegic. He uses marijuana for muscle spasms caused by his paralysis." Ducheneaux did not have the note with him the day of his arrest, but the existence of the note later prompted the DEA to threaten to investigate his doctor for prescribing an illegal drug. On August 28, 2002, Matthew Ducheneaux was convicted of marijuana possession. A previous ruling had barred him from telling the jury that he used marijuana for medical purposes. Ducheneaux's attorney believed the jury's hands were tied: "All of them conclusively said afterward that they didn't want to find him guilty." Even prosecutor Matthew Theophilus had doubts about blocking any mention of Ducheneaux's medical reasons for using marijuana, noting, "I think there is some merit to his defense." Ducheneaux received a five-day suspended sentence and was barred from using marijuana for year; he had faced a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The South Dakota Supreme Court later upheld Ducheneaux's conviction, as well as the court ruling barring his medical necessity defense. Ducheneaux passed away on May 23, 2005.
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