cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Case Dismissed Marijuana Case Dismissed Posted by CN Staff on December 18, 2004 at 09:06:11 PT By Molly Borgstrom Source: Baraboo Republic Baraboo -- Earlier this week a Sauk County judge threw out a case against a woman charged with marijuana possession because she had an out-of-state prescription for the drug. "I've been doing this for 17 years and this is the first such prescription I've seen," said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Calkins, who prosecuted the case.Medical marijuana is illegal in Wisconsin, but statutes allow possession where the patient has a valid prescription from a practitioner licensed to prescribe the drug. Calkins said the defendant in this case, Cheryl A. Lam, 53, of Sun Prairie, showed proof of her prescription in court and Judge James Evenson dismissed the case. Calkins said he doubted whether the ruling, although unusual, would affect future court cases. Legal precedent cannot be established at the circuit court level, and his office has no plans to appeal and move the case up in the courts, Calkins said.Medical marijuana advocates place more importance on the ruling, said Gary Storck, a spokesperson for the Madison chapters of Is My Medicine Legal YET? and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws."I'm very excited by it," Storck said. "I think any time that a judge rules that a person has the right to use their medicine in the state of Wisconsin, it's significant."According to court documents filed by her attorney, Lam had a medical card signed by a California doctor licensed to prescribe marijuana as medicine. California and 10 other states have laws allowing the use of medical marijuana.Authorities at Devil's Lake State Park arrested Lam July 31, according to court documents, after they responded to a fight at her camp site between her and her three sons. One of the sons told the officer he had thrown a marijuana pipe into the woods, so another officer with a drug-sniffing dog was dispatched to the scene.After consulting with the officer, Lam turned over two plastic bags of marijuana and a pipe. Lam had 3 grams in her possession.Lam started using medical marijuana after she was bit by a Brown Recluse spider in 1995, according to documents her lawyer filed. She had lesions over her entire body and after trips to several specialists still was not healed. At one point 85 percent of her flesh had been eaten away, her lawyer claimed in the documents. A Chinese medicine practitioner treated Lam with herbs, including cannabis, and in 2000 she became a patient of California doctor Tod H. Mikuriya, according to the documents. He prescribed her medical marijuana.Source: Baraboo Republic (WI)Author: Molly Borgstrom Published: Saturday, December 18, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Independent Media Group, Inc.Website: http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/Contact: bnr-editorial capitalnewspapers.comIs My Medicine Legal Yethttp://www.immly.org/Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D.http://www.mikuriya.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by Gary Storck on December 19, 2004 at 23:10:45 PT This article has legs! The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, largest paper in WI, has it in the Monday edition! Good press for mmj in WI! Is My Medicine Legal YET? [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on December 19, 2004 at 13:03:21 PT CNN Poll - New Link Should marijuana be legalized for medical purposes? Current Results:Yes -- 84% -- 63745 votes No -- 16% -- 12292 votes Total: 76037 votes Please Vote: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/12/18/medical.marijuana.ap/index.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by dr slider on December 19, 2004 at 00:58:45 PT: Best bet? Don't get caught. Don't revel in picking nits, but its illegal under federal law to "prescribe" cannabis. That's why my "recommendation" is so important. Another judge that can see spirits. (of the law, that is). Despite the federal lunatics George II appoints, seems we have some judges (esp. state) that believe in freedom. Damn good thing as the other branches of gob'mint are beyond enemonious. No more plea bargains. Let the judges decide, but be judicious in picking your judge. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by dr slider on December 18, 2004 at 23:57:50 PT: pity the fallen giants The ultimate irony is that Vioxx and Celebrex treat symptoms (hand pain (topically), general pain (internally)) that cannabis treats completely non-toxically. The cox-2 inhibitors were meant to alleviate demand for medcan. Another one of those times I'm not sorry. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by goneposthole on December 18, 2004 at 22:57:54 PT choose cannabis Merck and Pfizer really know how to manufacture drugs, don't they? If they were growing cannabis for medicine, they'd be sold out and have happy customers.Not to tough to figure it out. Their stocks would be rising. They wouldn't need any lawyers. Life would be normal, like it should be. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on December 18, 2004 at 20:55:09 PT Update on CNN Poll Should marijuana be legalized for medical purposes? Current Results: Yes -- 84% -- 40402 votes No -- 16% -- 7755 votes Total: 48157 votes Please Vote: http://www.cnn.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by John Tyler on December 18, 2004 at 20:27:14 PT AARP members say yes! Also did you notice that the AARP did a survey and found that 72% of senior citizens supported medical marijuana. The percentage was higher in the Northeast and West, but approval carried at least a 60% majority in all the rest of the country. Attitudes are a changin' [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by TroutMask on December 18, 2004 at 20:10:26 PT Polls Polls can help build momentum. There's a chance that some of the people who vote against medical marijuana in the poll will see that so many more people voted for it than against it; and maybe that will make them think about why they are against it and maybe change their mind(s). Doing nothing doesn't get anyone anywhere.-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on December 18, 2004 at 19:44:02 PT The CNN Poll Has Dropped to 84% Please Vote: http://www.cnn.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 18, 2004 at 17:39:58 PT Gary Thank You. I added it to my personal web site. Cannabis & Drug Policy Acticvist's Links [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Gary Storck on December 18, 2004 at 17:20:23 PT URL for Madison NORML Chapter Here is the add for the Madison chapter of NORML. Madison NORML [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 18, 2004 at 16:13:37 PT Craiig You're right. Polls don't change or make the laws. What is nice about a poll like this one on CNN is that CNN is a very large and well known news channel. When they even take the time and put a medical marijuana poll on their front page it gives me a small sense of well being. We are getting noticed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Craiig on December 18, 2004 at 15:51:59 PT do these poll things reallly matter? It's good that it's got support, but they aren't the ones making the laws. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 18, 2004 at 14:59:12 PT Thank You TroutMask! Should marijuana be legalized for medical purposes? Current Results:Yes -- 86% -- 8971 votes No -- 14% -- 1518 votes Total: 10489 votes Please Vote: http://www.cnn.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on December 18, 2004 at 14:54:18 PT CNN Med MJ Poll cnn.comShould marijuana be legalized for medical purposes?Very encouraging numbers so far!-TM [ Post Comment ] Post Comment