cannabisnews.com: Marijuana User Goes on Trial in Washington Marijuana User Goes on Trial in Washington Posted by FoM on January 21, 2000 at 11:03:40 PT By Sarah Kellog, Ann Arbor News Bureau Source: Michigan Live An Ann Arbor woman is finally having her day in court - 16 months after her arrest for smoking a marijuana cigarette in a congressman's office.Renee Emry-Wolfe's misdemeanor trial on marijuana possession began Thursday with the government presenting its case against the woman who has become a national advocate for medical marijuana use. Today her attorney, Jeffrey Orchard, presents evidence that Emry-Wolfe is exempt from Washington's drug law because she used the marijuana for medical reasons. Emry-Wolfe suffers from multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the nervous system."If someone possesses marijuana for a medical necessity, they are not guilty of the crime of possession in Washington," said Orchard, referring to a 1976 legal decision in the District of Columbia that exempted a glaucoma patient from marijuana possession laws.Alex Bourelly, the prosecutor, contends Emry-Wolfe is guilty of possession for merely holding a marijuana cigarette. If convicted, Emry-Wolfe, 39, faces up to six months in jail.After testimony Thursday by the U.S. Capitol Police, Emry-Wolfe remained upbeat as she accepted congratulations from other medical-marijuana advocates who had come to see the trial."I'm sort of hoping to push the envelope," she said, admitting that she had smoked marijuana that very morning. "I'm a hostage to the herb."Emry-Wolfe's legal battle began in September 1998, when she and a group of medical-marijuana advocates crowded into the office of U.S. Rep. William McCollum, R-Fla., to protest his opposition to medicinal use of marijuana.While in McCollum's office, Emry-Wolfe carried a banner that read: "I use marijuana for multiple sclerosis." She also lit up a marijuana cigarette and was quickly arrested by the Capitol Police."Miss Emry medicated herself out of necessity in an extremely stressful environment," Orchard told Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters, who will decide the case. "Her only wish was to provide information and evidence (to the congressman)."Orchard plans to put Dr. Denis Petro, an Arlington, Va., neurologist, on the stand today to testify that marijuana can be an effective medicine to reverse spasticity, which is a weakness in the limbs that often plagues multiple sclerosis patients.Petro claims marijuana can calm episodes of spasticity in ways that most other drugs cannot. Marijuana also has been used to alleviate pain in patients suffering from AIDS and cancer.Washington Published: January 21, 2000© 1999 Michigan LiveRelated Articles:Woman Faces D.C. Trial in Pot-Smoking Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4397.shtmlMS Patient Faces Marijuana Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread468.shtml Michigan Woman on Trial for Lighting Up Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4407.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: