Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000
Source: Daily Press (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Daily Press
Contact:  (760) 241-1860
Website: http://www.vvdailypress.com/
Author: Scott VanHorne, Staff Writer

COURT RULING MAY BE FIRST FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

VICTORVILLE - In what may be a first for San Bernardino County, two medical 
marijuana advocates have won a court ruling that allows them to grow and 
use the drug.

"It's a victory in this county because now there is something on record 
that says how much you can grow," said Anna Barrett, 29, of Victorville.

Barrett and her 32-year-old husband, Gary, were arrested for cultivation 
and distribution of marijuana in June 1999 when San Bernardino County 
Sheriff's deputies raided their home and discovered a pot garden.

At the time, both of them had a doctor's recommendation to use the drug as 
required by Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by 
voters in 1996.

On Thursday, the couple pleaded guilty to cultivation in a plea agreement 
with the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office.

They were sentenced to three years probation, but Deputy District Attorney 
Geoff Goss and Victorville Superior Court Judge Stephen Ashworth agreed to 
let the couple to grow and use marijuana for medical use.

The court order allows them to possess up to 34 adult flowering plants that 
cannot exceed a yield of more than 7.1 pounds, said Gary Barrett's 
attorney, Deputy Public Defender Linda Forrest.

Forrest said the judge simply made his ruling based on the law set forth by 
Proposition 215, which allows people to grow or possess marijuana if they 
have an oral or written recommendation from a doctor.

"(The judge) can't really disagree with the law," she said, adding the 
order may be the first of its kind in San Bernardino County.

Messages left for Goss, who prosecutes cases for the San Bernardino County 
Marijuana Eradication Unit, were not returned Friday.

Gary Barrett said he began using marijuana six years ago to treat Chron's 
disease, a painful bowel disorder, as well to help him quit using hard drugs.

"For me (marijuana) was the gateway back," Gary Barrett said.

Unlike the hard drugs he was addicted to, marijuana has allowed him to lead 
a normal life with a regular job as a stage hand at a nearby outdoor 
theater, he said.

Anna Barrett began using marijuana to treat chronic pain after she fell 
five stories from an icy ledge in London.

"It really changed her outlook when she got off the morphine," her husband 
said.

"It actually made my mind not focus on the pain all day long," Anna Barrett 
said.

Gary Barrett said he started growing pot soon after deputies raided his 
home because he couldn't afford to purchase high-grade marijuana, which 
costs about $20 a gram.

The Barrett's have two rooms filled with marijuana plants, but they still 
aren't close to reaching the limit set by the judge.
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