cannabisnews.com: Arrest Fuels Debate on Medical Marijuana





Arrest Fuels Debate on Medical Marijuana
Posted by FoM on August 15, 2000 at 09:27:52 PT
By Lee Williams, Argus Leader
Source: Argus Leader 
Matthew Ducheneaux wasn't worried when he was arrested last month for smoking marijuana in Yankton Trail Park. The quadriplegic, who suffers violent spasms, had a prescription for the drug, signed by a local doctor. Or so he thought. Now the 36-year-old Sioux Falls man faces misdemeanor drug possession charges, and the physician who signed the prescription is under scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Administration. 
Ducheneaux said he was upfront with his physician, Dr. Robert Seidel, after he discovered the benefits of smoking pot in 1994. "I wanted the scrip for when I travel," he said, "in case I got stopped." There is an active effort to introduce legislation next year that would allow South Dakota to join a handful of other states that approved the medical use of marijuana. But critics argue there are legal alternatives to pot and that permissive laws just make it difficult to catch real drug users. Ducheneaux's been confined to a wheelchair since 1985, after his spine was severed in a one-car accident. "I flew 141 feet, rolled several times, and was found laying on the hood," he says. Alcohol contributed to the accident, and Ducheneaux said he's been sober for the past seven years. The tremors shake his legs so violently, the floor of his trailer home vibrates, causing the salt and pepper shakers to dance across the kitchen table. "They come as regular as breathing," he said. Ducheneaux was prescribed Valium for the spasms. The drug kicks in an hour after he takes it. But he can't stand the side effects, namely stupor and hair loss. He keeps a bag of his lost hair on the headboard of his bed, as a kind of memorial. Another quadriplegic who suffers muscle spasms told him to try marijuana, which Ducheneaux said he had never even experimented with before his accident. "If it's good pot, it instantly takes away the tremors, right now," he said. "It takes away the pain, stimulates my appetite, makes me drink more water, which helps out my kidneys, and improves my bowel routine." He told Seidel about the effects of pot on his tremors. The doctor wrote a note on his prescription pad, dated and signed it. The note reads: "Matthew is a quadriplegic. He uses marijuana for muscle spasm caused by his paralysis." Dr. Seidel did not respond to several requests from the Argus Leader for comment. "It would be a breach of his privacy with his patient to comment," said Kelby Krabbenhoft, the CEO of Sioux Valley Hospital and University of South Dakota Medical Center. Krabbenhoft described Seidel as a "doctor's doctor," whom other physicians turn to when they become ill. He plans no disciplinary action against the physician. "From what I understand, even my fifth-grade son would know that this is not a scrip," said Krabbenhoft, "and is instead a simple and sympathetic note that would be consistent for Bob Seidel to write." The DEA Sees it Differently:Because the note was written on a prescription form, it carries more legal weight than if it were written on office stationary, said Julie Antilla, a DEA investigator in Des Moines. Antilla is assigned to the agency's Diversion Unit, which tracks physicians, drug manufacturers, pharmacists or anyone else involved in the movement of controlled substances. "Letterhead is just a note. My belief is that if written on scrip, it is intended to be prescribed to that person, especially if it is signed by a doctor," she said. Antilla said her office has a range of sanctions available for its cases, including criminal charges. Another option is a civil penalty, which usually means a fine for record-keeping violations. The agency also could repeal the doctor's DEA license, used to prescribe medication. Shirley Armestead, a spokeswoman at the DEA's divisional office in St. Louis, said federal law puts the responsibility for prescribing and dispensing any controlled substance directly upon the physician. "It appears that the doctor is trying to give him permission to use marijuana," she said. Armestead plans to refer the matter to the state's medical board. Both investigators stopped short of saying that the DEA is opening a criminal investigation. "We'll look into it," Antilla said. Dr. Seidel committed no crime under state law because South Dakota statutes do not address a physician's liability. Arrest at JazzFest: Ducheneaux knows he can't take the prescription into a pharmacy and exchange it for marijuana. He simply wanted something to show police if he ever was caught with the drugs. He buys pot in several Sioux Falls bars, from friends or "wherever I can get it." One quarter-ounce bag can last him up to two weeks. Ducheneaux left the paper at home the day he was arrested at Yankton Trail Park during the JazzFest on July 15. The hot sun brought on more spasms than usual, so he said he smoked half a joint. He and a friend were spotted smoking by the Big Sioux River by a Sioux Falls police officer on a bike. Ducheneaux denies that his friend smoked with him, though the friend also was charged. "I kept telling the officers that I had a scrip, but it didn't matter," he said. Arrested on the soccer field, Ducheneaux said police struggled with how to get him to jail. "I told them to call Wheelchair Express," he said. They did. Other Medical Options: Ducheneaux had several alternatives if Valium wasn't working, said Dennis M. Jones, a licensed pharmacist and the executive secretary for South Dakota's State Board of Pharmacy. Jones said hair loss is a possible side effect of Valium, though that happens to only 1 percent of those taking the drug. And the active ingredient of marijuana -- tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC -- is available legally in pill form, sold under the trade name Marinol. "It can be legally obtained with a prescription," Jones said, adding that Marinol is usually prescribed as an anti-nauseant. Muscle-skeletal relaxation is considered one of its side effects. Jones said other possible solutions include Soma, Baclofen, Paraflex or Flexaril. "It isn't like marijuana is the only thing. There's a whole book full of options," said Jones. "My heart goes out to the man; I see so many people that my heart goes out to. I wish I could help them all." NORML Campaign: The South Dakota Chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, is looking for other people in Ducheneaux's position. "We're advertising statewide for anyone who needs medicinal cannabis," said South Dakota NORML president and founder Bob Newland of Hermosa. Newland said his intent is to assemble a group of people who rely upon medicinal marijuana, then bring them as a group to testify before the South Dakota Legislature in support of a medicinal marijuana bill. "The bill's sponsor (in the Legislature) is not ready to be named yet," Newland said. "But it's 98 percent ready, and we will also introduce an industrial hemp bill as well." Newland does not subscribe to claims made by the American Medical Association and the DEA that marijuana has no medical benefits. "Those claims are ridiculous on their face, given the thousands of stories of benefits," he said. "But even if they are right, our point of view is that we should humor sick and dying people who think they get a benefit from cannabis." Outgoing House Speaker Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, disagrees. "I'm not a doctor, but as far as medicinal marijuana is concerned, there is not any pharmaceutical marijuana at this time," he said. "There have been studies conducted that show smoking marijuana is harmful. Also, marijuana is addictive like tobacco, and if marijuana is addictive, then we have to say we have a model, the tobacco industry. That is an area we don't want to get involved with." Legislation allowing medicinal marijuana use in other states is so full of loopholes, it prevents law enforcement from making arrests for any kind of pot use, Hunt said. "If we're talking in terms of medicinal marijuana for medical purposes, someone is blowing smoke at us," Hunt said. Action in Other States: Voters in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have approved ballot measures approving use of medical marijuana. But it's still against federal laws. States wishing to dispense marijuana need to develop working agreements with local U.S. Attorneys or DEA offices, Antilla said. California voters passed a state's medical marijuana initiative in 1996. And last month, a federal judge authorized an Oakland, Calif., group to distribute marijuana for medical purposes. On June 14, Gov. Benjamin Cayetano of Hawaii signed a bill into law that removed state criminal penalties for the seriously ill who grow, possess or smoke marijuana with a physician's approval. The law lists several qualifying illnesses, including cancer, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS. But it adds that written requests by physicians for consideration of other illnesses will be considered. Ducheneaux believes he would qualify for medicinal marijuana if South Dakota laws would change. He promises to fight the misdemeanor charge, but he's surprised he even has to go to court. "I was just gonna go down to the courthouse, show them my scrip and ask for my hooters (marijuana joints) back," he said. "There's a difference between the drinking that got me into this situation and the way I'm using marijuana now." Reach reporter Lee Williams at 331-2318 or lwilliam argusleader.com Source: Argus Leader (SD)Copyright: 2000 Argus LeaderContact: editor argusleader.comAddress: P.O. Box 5034, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5034Fax: (605) 331-2294Website: http://www.argusleader.com/Forum: http://www.argusleader.com/info/forum.htmlSouth Dakota NORMLWeb Site: http://www.sodaknorml.orgCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by jonilg on May 17, 2001 at 10:16:57 PT:
Medicinal marahoochy
Medicinal marijuana has its place in society. The local D.A. of whatever, should get off the pot (not the smokable type) and realize that it helps people who have certain conditions. There is enough medical research to support all these claims that have been made by those who believe that marijuana should be legalized. The only thing holding this up is the politicians who recieve cash donations from the large pharmaceutical companies who have not been able to synthesize the active ingredients in cannabis. The politicians need to look after their constituents not the large, multi-national corporations. Grow green... 
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Comment #4 posted by Dan B on August 16, 2000 at 02:02:51 PT:
THC Not Only Active Ingredient
Somebody needs to tell these hacks that THC is not the only active ingredient in marijuana, just the one that happens to make one feel "high." There are about 60 cannabinoids, and each one of them may be an active ingredient for the control or cure of any number of illnesses/disorders. We already know about the benefits of some others, like cannabidiol (CBD) for arthritis, and delta-8 THC and cannibinol (CBN), in conjunction with delta-9 THC, for reducing tumors, for example.The more marijuana is studied, the more we understand that there are many components of this wonderful substance that can be used to help people with a variety of medical problems.To be fair, though, THC does seem to be the main component in controlling MS-related spasms, and maybe that is also the main component in controlling the kinds of spasms Mr. Ducheneaux was having as a result of his debilitating accident. Even at that, the claims that cannabis has not been proven to be medically beneficial are outright lies, not just mishaps or (oops) fallacies. These people are lying (I know you know--please bear with me, I'm on a tirade); they do know about study after study confirming the benefits of marijuana in a medical setting. I refuse to believe that the campaign for ignorance is so great in this country that 95% of our elected representatives get their information fed to them intravenously by the DEA, the ONDCP, and NIDA, with no attempt to understand the issue from any other perspective. They have to have read the IOM report, at least. They do know they are spreading lies, and they are doing it with smiles on their faces, while hundreds of thousands of marijuana users continue to be arrested each year, and hundreds of thousands sit in prisons and jails. Police state? Our "representatives" roundly support it.Okay, tirade over. 
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Comment #3 posted by Kanabys on August 15, 2000 at 13:41:04 PT
Lies, all Lies
>>Also, marijuana is addictive like tobacco, and if marijuana is addictive, then we have to say we have a model, the tobacco industryI'm really getting tired of the LIES. Lies are addictive and if lies are addictive, then we have a model, the US govt.
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Comment #2 posted by The Unabonger on August 15, 2000 at 13:20:14 PT
Uh, you forgot Maine (again).
"Voters in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have approved ballot measures approving use of medical marijuana." Why does the media constantly forget Maine? 
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on August 15, 2000 at 11:15:11 PT:
Malicious Idiocy
This article demonstrates just about everything that is wrong with current drug law. A patient needs effective medicine. A doctor supports him. Assorted idiots with no genuine clinical medical expertise claim to know better than the patient and doctor how medicine should be used (or prohibited in this instance). Should the DEA pursue this case, they will lose once it gets to a level where there is some judge with a modicum of integrity, common sense, and an appreciation for existing statute.   This story is repeated daily in jurisdictions across the USA. We need some public outrage to sweep the decks clean and allow rationality to apply.
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