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Medical
Necessity
Defense
Allowed
in
McWilliams
Case
6/5/98
Last November, the NORML Foundation reported that a Michigan judge had disallowed use of the medical necessity defense for author and medical marijuana patient Peter McWilliams (http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/11-7-1.html#mcwilliams). Earlier this week, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kym Worthy ruled that McWilliams, a patient for both AIDS and cancer, may indeed use the medical necessity defense in his marijuana possession trial. Judge Worthy ruled that, under current Michigan law, it would be "not just improper but immoral" to deny McWilliams the ability to present to a jury the fact that he uses marijuana to help treat his life-threatening medical condition. McWilliams was arrested for possession of seven "marijuana cigarettes" at Detroit Metro Airport on December 12, 1996. McWilliams was recently featured on the ABC News John Stossel special, Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/44.html#quote). McWilliams best-selling book, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, is online in full text at http://www.consenting.org. For ongoing info on the McWilliams case and other medical marijuana news, visit http://www.marijuanamagazine.com.
-- END --
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Issue #45, 6/5/98
DEA Holds Hearing on Use of Herbicide in Eradication | "Big Six" Accounting Firm Bought Laundered Currency at Discount, US Government Says | Man Whose Grandmother's Ashes Were Mistaken for Methamphetamine Suing for Wrongful Imprisonment | Proposed "Multinational Anti-Narcotics Base" in Panama Now Uncertain | US to Build Anti-Drug Military Training Center in Peru | Medical Necessity Defense Allowed in McWilliams Case | California Global Days | California Primaries Report | Hemp Update | Nominations Being Accepted for DPF Awards | Editorial: The UN, Making the World Safe for War
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