cannabisnews.com: Doctor Testifies On Man's Claim To Need MMJ!





Doctor Testifies On Man's Claim To Need MMJ!
Posted by FoM on July 28, 1999 at 14:23:18 PT
July 28, 1999
Source: Tampa Bay Online
BRONSON, Fla. (AP) - A doctor for a man who claims he needs to smoke marijuana to cope with dreadful pain and the side effects of painkillers said Wednesday that he didn't tell the man to smoke the drug.
The doctor, a pain management specialist, said he doesn't think smoking marijuana ``is good for you.'' But he said the main reason he didn't tell Joe Tacl to take it was that it was illegal. Tacl's lawyers argue it shouldn't be in his case, because he claims it is the only thing he's found that helps him deal with the massive doses of painkillers he has had to take since being run over by a van six years ago. Advocates of medical marijuana usage, who are trying to get a measure on the statewide ballot legalizing the drug's use for some patients, are hoping a Levy County jury will accept Tacl's ``medical marijuana defense.'' That, said Kevin Aplin, the co-founder of a national group called the ``Canabis Action Network,'' might persuade prosecutors not to bring cases against marijuana users who can show they need the drug for medical reasons. Six western states have legalized use of marijuana for some medical purposes only. But the drug is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, so there is no guarantee even in those states that users won't be prosecuted. It is also illegal in Florida. But in June the state Supreme Court essentially gave the OK to Florida defendants to try a medical defense when charged with marijuana possession. But that's no guarantee a jury will buy it. The six jurors in Tacl's case were expected to get the case Thursday. Aplin said Tacl's case is the first felony drug case against a marijuana user to go to trial since the Supreme Court ruled on the medical-necessity defense. That's why the trial in this rural area west of Gainesville is drawing heavy attention, from pro-marijuana activists gathered at the courthouse to Court TV. Another Levy County jury recently acquitted a man on misdemeanor possession of a small amount of marijuana after he claimed he needed it to deal with chronic pain from a back injury. Tacl, 46, is charged with having nine marijuana plants growing on his property. He also is charged with having the drug in smoking form in his house, and with possessing drug paraphernalia for smoking it. Charged along with him is his 20-year-old son Michael. Police alleged both men told them the plants were theirs when they came to the house last year after spotting the pot from a helicopter. If convicted, they each could face 10 years in prison on the felony charges and an additional year on a misdemeanor charge for the paraphernalia. Tacl's pain management doctor, Scott Lipoff, told jurors he prescribed several different medications for his patient's pain after Tacl had metal rods and screws put in his back. None of them seemed to be much help. The ones that did offer relief made it too hard for Tacl to eat, Lipoff said. ``He could not tolerate a dosage that would be adequate to control his pain,'' he said. Tacl eventually told Lipoff he was smoking marijuana and that seemed to help, but Lipoff said he couldn't recommend to Tacl that he continue that. The group trying to get a measure on the ballot legalizing the drug, Floridians for Medical Rights, has about 50,000 of the 435,000 signatures it needs to collect by next June, Aplin said.Pubdate; July 28, 1999 http://tampabayonline.net/news/flor101u.htmCopyright 1999 Associated Press.Defense Tries Medical-Need Claim for MJ Possession-7/28/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2246.shtml'Medicinal Marijuana' Trial To Begin-7/27/99 http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2230.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 28, 1999 at 14:52:53 PT:
Medical Marijuana Trial Nears End!
http://news.excite.com/news/ Updated 2:37 PM ET July 28, 1999 BRONSON, Fla., July 28 (UPI) Defense attorneys are presenting their case in Levy County after the prosecution rested in the marijuana possession and cultivation trial of a man who claims he needs the drug for medicinal purposes. A doctor testifying on behalf of 46-year-old Joe Tacl said the prescription pain medications he takes give him stomach and intestinal problems. By smoking pot, he can reduce the amount of other drugs needed. Defense attorneys will try to show Tacl's 20-year-old son Michael did not use marijuana himself, but only grew it for his father. http://news.excite.com/news/u/990728/14/us-fl-marijuana-1
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