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McWilliams
Case
Set
Back:
Judges
"changes
mind"
on
medical
necessity
defense
11/7/97
Also from the NORML Foundation:
A district court judge yesterday reversed her week-old decision to allow
an AIDS and cancer patient facing marijuana charges to present evidence
that he uses the drug as part of his medical treatment.
The case involves Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author and former
Detroit resident who is facing criminal charges for possession of seven
marijuana cigarettes. McWilliams, who now lives in California, uses marijuana
medicinally to alleviate the side effects of the AIDS wasting syndrome
and cancer chemotherapy. He was arrested December 17, 1996, at Detroit
Metropolitan Airport after telling officers that he was carrying marijuana
legally acquired in California.
William's attorney, NORML's Legal Committee member Richard Lustig, expressed
extreme surprise at the judge's reversal. "Judge [Tina] Green's initial
decision was brave and correct," Lustig said. "Thousands of patients
rely on medical marijuana to relieve their pain and to ease their nausea
and other side effects caused by medical treatment."
Judge Green said she reversed her position after concluding that McWilliams
would not suffer bodily harm if he stopped using marijuana as part of his
medical treatment. McWilliams contests that assertion.
"Without medical marijuana, I can't keep down the drugs that are
keeping me alive," McWilliams said. "Judge Green's original decision
may not be considered politically correct by some, but it was definitely
the medically correct decision to make."
Lustig said he will immediately file an appeal with the Wayne County
Circuit Court.
For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup, Esq. of
NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or NORML Legal Committee member Richard Lustig @
(810) 258-1600.
-- END --
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Issue #18, 11/7/97
Washington Initiative Fails at Ballot: No one said this was going to be easy | McWilliams Case Set Back: Judges "changes mind" on medical necessity defense | California Medical Marijuana Providers Conference: Groups sign on to principles and guidelines document | Patient Threatened with Arrest after Seeking Dialogue: Yuba County accused of violating Prop. 215 | South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Eight Year Prison Sentence for Woman Whose Baby was Born with Drugs in System | Prohibition at Work: Mexican law enforcement officers once again involved in sometimes lethal criminal activities | Canadian Passports New Currency in Illegal Drug Market | Poll: British MP's Would Modify Cannabis Law -- split most evident within Labour Party | Five Former Cops Plead Guilty to Drug Trafficking | Whitman Wins, Needle Exchange Loses | Miss America Visits Needle Exchange Program | New MS Treatment Very Effective, But Very Expensive... Medical marijuana still illegal as alternative | World Bank Endorses Needle Exchange Funding | McCaffrey Calls Allegations Inappropriate | Irish Teens Top European Drug Users | Study Finds Not All Drug Users Are Losers | Narcs vs. Murphy Brown: DEA Chief criticizes fictional news anchor for medical marijuana use | Media Watch: Drug war issues in the news | Editorial: Are the drug warriors really fighting for this nation's youth?
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