cannabisnews.com: Trial To Highlight Use Of Marijuana As Medicine!





Trial To Highlight Use Of Marijuana As Medicine!
Posted by FoM on July 24, 1999 at 13:46:41 PT
Source: Tampa Bay Online
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The 32 inches of titanium and six metal screws in Joe Tacl's back since he was run over by a van six years ago have left him in nearly constant pain.
He says it gets better, though, when he can take heavy doses of pain medication - and when he can smoke marijuana to help his digestive system tolerate the painkillers. ``How the man stays alive and copes with life is beyond me,'' said his wife, Anne. Pain or not, Joe Tacl is a criminal, say Levy County authorities. Marijuana is an illegal drug and when Tacl goes before a jury this week in Bronson, prosecutors will try to convince a jury that a ``medical marijuana defense'' is bogus. Jury selection begins Monday. Tacl was arrested last year for having marijuana plants - between five and nine, depending on who you believe - at his house. Police also found a small bag of pot in his house. A recent court ruling in Florida said people can use medical need as a defense in marijuana cases, and the Tacl case is seen by supporters and opponents as one of the first tests of that defense since the ruling. But just because courts have said the defense should be allowed, that doesn't mean a jury will accept it. Anne Tacl said she thinks jurors - her neighbors in this sleepy farming area west of Gainesville - will approve ``once they hear what he's been through.'' ``Without medicine, Joe has no quality of life,'' she said. And without marijuana, Tacl and others who say they need to smoke the plant say they can't handle that medicine. The massive doses of strong painkillers also killed Tacl's appetite, his wife said. ``He was unable to eat,'' she said. ``There wasn't anything he could do but stop taking (painkillers).'' Jurors will see Tacl on a hospital bed at his trial. His attorney, Andrew Fine, also plans to call as a witness Tacl's ``pain management doctor,'' who will testify about his client's agony. Prosecutors, who have said they plan to vigorously attack the medical marijuana defense, didn't return calls seeking comment for this story. Although six states have approved the use of marijuana as a drug for medical use, possessing it is a federal crime and illegal under state law in Florida. And while he wouldn't comment on the Tacl case, Florida's chief drug enforcement officer said that is as it should be. ``I believe it is yet to be proven there's anything medical about marijuana,'' said Jim McDonough, who heads the state's office of drug control policy. McDonough said there isn't any scientific evidence that smoking marijuana is medically beneficial. Scientists have been unable to reach a consensus. The Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences, said in March that marijuana's active ingredients can ease the pain, nausea and vomiting caused by cancer and AIDS. However, the report added that more scientific study was needed. And it urged development of a different way to use the drug, such as an inhaler. Federal drug control officials also are pinning some hopes on Marinol, a legal prescription drug derived from marijuana. It has been used to treat weight loss associated with AIDS and chemotherapy. McDonough said he doesn't have a problem with drugs like Marinol, but that smoking plain marijuana isn't the same. ``There is no other drug in American medicine that is smoked,'' he said. He said his position is bolstered by a correlation between early marijuana smoking and later abuse of harder dangerous drugs. ``I ask addicts, `How did you begin?' and they tell me marijuana 95 percent of the time,'' McDonough said. Allowing medical use could open the door for anyone who wants to smoke pot to claim a medical condition, McDonough said. Opponents of medical marijuana say there are other drugs to do the same thing marijuana users claim smoking the plant does for them. Many of those drugs are far more expensive, though. Opponents of medical marijuana argue the cost of a legal drug is no reason to allow people to use an illicit narcotic. But Fine said many of those drugs also may be more dangerous than marijuana. ``The question is, what is the best drug?'' Fine said. ``In a lot of cases, it seems as if marijuana falls into that category.'' Pubdate: July 24, 1999Copyright 1999 Associated Press. http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/flor1018.htm
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by FoM on July 24, 1999 at 19:28:11 PT:
Drug Policy Forum Of California
http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/Map Inc.http://www.mapinc.org/
Trial To Highlight Use Of Marijuana For Medical Purposes
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 24, 1999 at 14:43:17 PT:
One Man's Journey For Justice Is Almost Over!
Related Article:July 23, 1999From Kay Lee
One Man's Journey For Justice Is Almost Over!
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: