cannabisnews.com: Medical-Marijuana Supporter Pleads Guilty





Medical-Marijuana Supporter Pleads Guilty
Posted by FoM on December 02, 2000 at 12:03:27 PT
By Marilyn Robinson and John Ingold
Source: Denver Post 
A man who became the pro-pot poster child for the medical marijuana battle pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor marijuana possession. Rory Poliac, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and says he uses pot to ease his pain before he goes to bed, was originally charged with felony marijuana cultivation after police found 13 plants in his apartment this summer. 
Poliac and his attorney, Warren Edson, said at the time they wanted the case to go to trial to raise awareness for medical marijuana. Instead, Poliac, 44, pleaded guilty in Arapahoe County court to possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and received a $25 fine.Poliac could be the last person in Colorado prosecuted for possessing medical marijuana. Last month, voters approved Amendment 20, which allows people to possess six plants or 2 ounces of marijuana as long as they use it for medicinal purposes."We decided to continue the case until after Amendment 20 was voted on by the population to give us a little bit of direction," Arapahoe County District Attorney Jim Peters said. "We wanted to give Mr. Poliac the benefit of any changes in the law that would help him."The new law could not help Poliac this time because he was arrested before it went into effect. Edson said Poliac, after the passage of Amendment 20, decided to take the plea bargain to avoid the more serious charges."He was glad that he's not facing a felony anymore," Edson said. "This is a guy who doesn't have any priors. But it was tough to actually say "guilty.' "Poliac still faces misdemeanor charges in Littleton for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, after police went back to his home last month. Peters said his office understood Poliac's situation but had to uphold the law as it stood."For somebody in Mr. Poliac's condition, we've got a lot of sympathy for him," Peters said. "We want to make sure he obtains the best treatment available for his pain."Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: Marilyn Robinson and John IngoldDenver Post Staff WritersPublished: December 2, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Denver PostAddress: 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202Fax: (303) 820.1502Contact: letters denverpost.comWebsite: http://www.denverpost.com/Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htmRelated Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rightshttp://www.medicalmarijuana.com/Medicinal Pot a Heated Debatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/6/thread6416.shtmlPatient To Test Drug Law in Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/5/thread5110.shtml
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