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Medical marijuana decision reversed
Long Beach Press Telegram ^ | January 12, 2003 | Wendy Thomas Russell

Posted on 01/13/2003 12:09:56 PM PST by MrLeRoy

LOS ANGELES The only medical-marijuana case to end in conviction in Long Beach Superior Court has been overturned on appeal, and prosecutors have not yet decided whether to retry the case.

Marie Rutledge was charged last year with possessing marijuana in her car but claimed it was medically prescribed to treat her asthma, muscle spasms and migraine headaches. Her Long Beach jury disagreed, finding her guilty of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana and public intoxication.

After reviewing the case and hearing oral arguments in Los Angeles last month, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal reversed the jury verdict based on a recent California Supreme Court decision that lowers the defendant's burden of proof in such cases.

The Supreme Court case, People v. Mower, states that "the defendant should be required merely to raise a reasonable doubt as to those (underlying) facts rather than to prove them by a preponderance of the evidence.'

The court stated that Rutledge's jurors may have returned a different verdict had they been instructed properly. For example, the fact that Rutledge introduced evidence of her maladies may have been enough to raise reasonable doubt, the court found.

Rutledge is one of four people charged in Long Beach with marijuana possession but who claim they are exempt from prosecution under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. Two of those cases were ultimately dismissed, and one has yet to be tried.

Allen Fields, who runs the Long Beach branch of the Los Angeles district attorney's office, said he hasn't yet decided whether to retry the Rutledge case or dismiss it.

"I haven't seen the appeal,' he said Friday. "We'll take a look at it and decide what to do.'

Deputy Public Defender Leslie Allenby, who represented Rutledge during her trial, said she was pleased by the decision and hoped it would end the case.

"It's the right result,' she said. "I do hope that they choose not to litigate it again because it's much ado about nothing.'

Attorney J. David Nick, who filed the appeal, also had argued that Long Beach prosecutors committed prosecutorial misconduct when they suggested that Rutledge's doctor might subject himself to prosecution if he testified on her behalf. The doctor ultimately asserted the Fifth and refused to testify.

The Court of Appeal rendered no opinion on that matter, however, saying such a thing was "unlikely to recur at any new trial.'


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: cannabis; drug; marijuana; pot; saynottopot; wod; wodlist
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1 posted on 01/13/2003 12:09:56 PM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: *Wod_list
Wod_list ping
2 posted on 01/13/2003 12:10:15 PM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: MrLeRoy
Oh happy day!!! It's appalling to put a sick person through this.
3 posted on 01/13/2003 12:57:14 PM PST by bigfootbob
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4 posted on 01/13/2003 2:58:35 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
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To: MrLeRoy
Hey Ashcroft, Walters, and Hutchinson; are you three stooges going to put this woman in jail? I thought conservatives were all for states' rights.
5 posted on 01/13/2003 6:51:11 PM PST by Sparta (Statism is a mental illness)
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To: Sparta; jmc813
BTTT, another brick coming off the wall.
6 posted on 01/14/2003 7:23:49 AM PST by vin-one (I wish i had something clever to put in this tag)
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To: Wolfie; vin-one; WindMinstrel; headsonpikes; philman_36; Beach_Babe; jenny65; AUgrad; Xenalyte; ...
WOD Ping
7 posted on 01/14/2003 11:53:31 AM PST by jmc813 (My tagline used to say "Go Jets!!!!", but I am now looking for a new one.)
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To: jmc813
WooHOOO. I'm going to echo...echo....echo vin.vin..vin one.one..one....

"BTTT, another brick coming off the wall."


8 posted on 01/14/2003 12:06:50 PM PST by EBUCK (....reloading....praparing to FIRE!!!)
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To: Sparta
Larry, Moe and Curly... I wonder who is which? Not that it matters. They surely exhibit all the characteristics of the Stooges!
9 posted on 01/14/2003 12:27:58 PM PST by dcwusmc ("The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself.")
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To: MrLeRoy
"was medically prescribed to treat her asthma, muscle spasms and migraine headaches."

"The doctor ultimately asserted the Fifth and refused to testify."

Smart move. Also, tells you everything you need to know about this case. (Marijuana for asthma?)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS A JOKE!!!

10 posted on 01/14/2003 1:01:59 PM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: robertpaulsen
"The doctor ultimately asserted the Fifth and refused to testify."

Smart move. Also, tells you everything you need to know about this case.

Yes, it tells you that the War On Some Drugs is interfering with doctors' doing what they deem best for their patients' health.

(Marijuana for asthma?)

It's a vasodilator, like commonly prescribed asthma medications.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS A JOKE!!!

"there are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might provide relief. [...] there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." - Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999), Institute of Medicine

11 posted on 01/14/2003 1:08:53 PM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: robertpaulsen
Also, tells you everything you need to know about this case.

Anytime someone tells me "this is all you need to know" about something, I immediatly start wondering what it is they think I don't need to know, and why.

12 posted on 01/14/2003 1:10:58 PM PST by tacticalogic (This tagline is dedicated to SheLion and family until further notice.)
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To: MrLeRoy
Quoting out of context, are we?

"Until a non-smoked, rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting. One possible approach is to treat patients as n-of-1 clinical trials, in which patients are fully informed of their status as experimental subjects using a harmful drug delivery system, and in which their condition is closely monitored and documented under medical supervision, thereby increasing the knowledge base of the risks and benefits of marijuana use under such conditions."
-- Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999), Institute of Medicine

I wonder if the woman in the article was "fully informed of their status as experimental subjects using a harmful drug delivery system, and in which their condition is closely monitored and documented under medical supervision"?

What do you think, MrLeRoy?

13 posted on 01/14/2003 2:17:19 PM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: MrLeRoy
"It's a vasodilator, like commonly prescribed asthma medications."

Well, THC itself is a bronchodilator, but is that enough to compensate for the irritation induced by the tars, or for the inhibition of ciliary movement induced by the acetaldehyde?

Name one other commonly prescribed asthma medication which is smoked.

14 posted on 01/14/2003 2:22:54 PM PST by robertpaulsen
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To: robertpaulsen
Quoting out of context, are we?

Nope---nothing in the surrounding text you cite modifies the meaning of the text I quoted.

I wonder if the woman in the article was "fully informed of their status as experimental subjects using a harmful drug delivery system, and in which their condition is closely monitored and documented under medical supervision"?

She was not an "experimental subject" but a patient (experminent was mentioned as "one possible approach"). I have no reason to doubt that she was fully informed of the harms of smoking and her condition was closely monitored and documented under medical supervision.

15 posted on 01/14/2003 2:50:09 PM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: robertpaulsen
"After methacholine-induced bronchospasm, placebo marijuana and saline inhalation produced minimal changes in specific airway conductance and thoracic gas volume, whereas 2.0 per cent marijuana and isoproterenol each caused a prompt correction of the bronchospasm and associated hyperinflation. After exercise-induced bronchospasm, placebo marijuana and saline were followed by gradual recovery during 30 to 60 min, whereas 2.0 per cent marijuana and isoproterenol caused an immediate reversal of exercise-induced asthma and hyperinflation." - Effects of Smoked Marijuana in Experimentally Induced Asthma, Tashkin et al., American Review of Respiratory Disease v. 112 (1975)
16 posted on 01/14/2003 2:58:44 PM PST by MrLeRoy
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To: robertpaulsen; jmc813
And today's "line" seems to be that the "drug delivery system" is "harmful".
Another day, another story, another tact.
17 posted on 01/14/2003 4:18:34 PM PST by philman_36
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To: MrLeRoy
End the war on americans, AKA The WOD's, before it's too late.
18 posted on 01/14/2003 4:44:45 PM PST by thepitts
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To: philman_36
If marijuana is found to be medically beneficial for certain illnesses, do you think the "delivery system" will be via smoking? Do you think that the AMA, IOM, NIH, FDA, or your doctor, will recommend smoking marijuana for asthma?

If marijuana is found to have medical benefits, certainly you don't care if the "delivery system" is other than smoking, do you? Or do you have a hidden agenda?

19 posted on 01/15/2003 6:17:10 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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