Judge Bars Medical Need, Prop. 215 as Basis for Defense in Marijuana Trial
From Associated Press
November 6, 1999
A federal judge ruled Friday that two medical marijuana activists cannot use
necessity as a defense in their upcoming drug trial.
They also cannot refer to their medical conditions, the medical uses of marijuana
or California's Proposition 215, which allowed the personal use of marijuana for
medical purposes, said U.S. District Judge George King.
Todd McCormick, who has bone cancer, and Peter McWilliams, who has AIDS and
cancer in remission, are accused of growing and distributing marijuana.
They were arrested after federal officials found more than 6,000 plants growing
in a Bel-Air mansion and three other leased locations in Los Angeles County.
McWilliams, a self-help publisher, is accused of financing the operation. McCormick
and others are accused of growing the pot and trying to sell it to the Los Angeles
Cannabis Buyers Club, which has dispensed the drug since Californians voted in 1996
to legalize it for medical use.
They are scheduled to stand trial Nov. 16.
McWilliams said he was devastated by the decision. "It's frustrating to be in
a state where voters voted that I can have this medication," he said. "I am needlessly
dying at the prime of my career."
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office refused to comment beyond the judge's
ruling.
McWilliams said he has admitted growing marijuana for his own use. He says he
can only keep down his AIDS medication by smoking marijuana and that his health has
suffered since his arrest in July 1998.
King's ruling disallowed a defense based on medical necessity because it "is
not available as a matter of law," since Congress has ruled marijuana has no medical
merit. Proposition 215 recognizes some medical benefits, but U.S. officials say state
laws do not apply to federal offenses.