Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jul 2000
Source: San Marcos Daily Record (TX)
Copyright: 2000 San Marcos Daily Record
Contact:  1910 IH35 South, San Marcos TX 78666
Fax: 512-392-1514
Website: http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/
Author: Anita Miller, News Editor

JURORS TO HEAR "MARIJUANA MEDICINE" CASE

For the first time in Hays County and possibly in all of Texas, jurors will 
decide this week if marijuana seized from a local legalization advocate was 
grown solely as medicine.

District Judge Robert T. Pfeuffer on Tuesday ruled admissible the "medical 
necessity" defense of Jeffrey "Zeal" Stefanoff, whose Rolling Oaks home was 
raided by the Hays County Narcotics Task Force three years ago.

"This is a landmark case," said attorney David Sergi, who presented two 
expert witnesses in a hearing held Tuesday outside the presence of the jury 
pool.

Before ruling the defense admissible, Pfeuffer heard testimony from Dr. G. 
Alan Robinson, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas Health 
Science Center at Houston and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic, and Dr. Joel 
Hochman, a Houston psychiatrist and former marijuana researcher.

Robinson, who described himself as "an expert in how drugs do what they 
do," testified that THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the active 
ingredient in marijuana, has a variety of medicinal applications, from 
controlling pain to preventing nausea in cancer patients on chemotherapy, 
stimulating the appetite of patients wasting away from AIDS, and stopping 
spasms characteristic of conditions like Multiple Sclerosis.

"It is a relatively safe drug, I would say," he said, and one he 
characterized as being unique because researchers have been unable to 
define it in terms of toxicity. "You could not calculate that," he said. 
"No matter how much you injected into a mouse you would not kill it."

Robinson also spoke about the differences in absorption between smoked 
marijuana and oral medications like Marinol, a synthetic form of THC that 
had been prescribed for Stefanoff. "Smoking is always more rapid," he said, 
adding that patients generally "smoke just enough" to get relief.

He further said the primary side effect of marijuana is the euphoria that 
makes it a popular recreational drug. "It bothers some people to experience 
that euphoria," Robinson said. "There really are no negative side effects 
other than that."

Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton, on cross examination, asked 
Robinson hypothetically that if nicotine were found to have medicinal 
value, would he recommend his patients smoke cigarettes.

"Tobacco is an extremely potent drug," Robinson said. "Nicotine is one of 
the most violent poisons we know."

Hochman testified that he has been treating Stefanoff for about two years 
and prescribed Marinol after other drugs failed to relieve his symptoms of 
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Hochman said Stefanoff suffered from a range of symptoms characteristic of 
PTSD including depression, anxiety, night terrors and fits of rage. It all 
started after the death of Stefanoff's first wife, Hochman testified. 
"Another stress was dealing with his arrest," he said.

Sergi said the case is important because it is the first time a Texas 
attorney has been allowed to argue that medicinal use of marijuana 
qualifies under the state's broadly worded necessity defense statutes. 
"This case may allow thousands of ill Texans a right to their medicine that 
people in Alaska, Oregon, California, Washington, Arizona, Maine and 
Washington DC have voted for," he said.

"Our medicines and medications should be between only us and our doctors 
and we should not have to fight it case by case," Stefanoff said.

Prior to Tuesday's hearing, Stefanoff signed papers acknowledging that the 
15 marijuana plants seized from his property in the July 1997 raid were his.

Jury selection continues today. If convicted, Stefanoff could face up to 
two years in a state jail.
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