Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2001, The Detroit News
Contact:  http://data.detnews.com:8081/feedback/
Website: http://www.detnews.com/
Author: Catherine Strong, Associated Press Writer

DOCTOR TESTIFIES THOUSANDS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS LIKELY USE MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis in 
the United States are using marijuana as relief from muscle spasms, a 
doctor testified on Friday at the trial of a Michigan woman.

Renee Emry Wolfe, of Ann Arbor, was charged with possession of marijuana 
after lighting a joint in a congressman's Capitol Hill office in 1998.

Her lawyer, Jeffrey Orchard, contends that Mrs. Wolfe smoked the marijuana 
out of medical necessity to get relief from muscle spasms or shaking caused 
by her multiple sclerosis.

Prosecutors say Mrs. Wolfe went to the office of Rep. Bill McCollum, 
R-Fla., on Sept. 15, 1998, to protest his resolution on the House floor 
that day that said marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should 
not be legalized for medical use.

During the second day of the trial, Dr. Denis Petro, a neurologist, 
testified in court that the number of people with multiple sclerosis who 
use marijuana "is certainly in the thousands."

Petro also said that some other drugs used to treat muscle spasms or 
shaking are not always effective or have severe side effects.

Mrs. Wolfe, 39, has said that smoking marijuana helps alleviate her 
symptoms in a matter of seconds. When she gets attacks, her hands shake and 
she loses control of her legs.

Orchard contends that Mrs. Wolfe started to feel tense "in an extremely 
stressful environment" when McCollum's aides did not want to talk with her 
and she lighted the marijuana cigarette because she felt her symptoms 
returning.

Prosecutors say Mrs. Wolfe was illegally smoking marijuana on the grounds 
of the U.S. Capitol and she went there carrying a sign to protest the House 
resolution against the use of the drug.

Multiple sclerosis is a disabling disease of the central nervous system 
that afflicts more than 300,000 Americans, the National Multiple Sclerosis 
Society estimates. People with MS have such symptoms as unusual tiredness, 
loss of balance and muscle coordination, slurred speech, tremors and 
difficulty walking. In severe cases, they are partly or completely paralyzed.

Mrs. Wolfe has difficulty walking and usually sits in a wheelchair.

If convicted, Mrs. Wolfe could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The nonjury trial before Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters is to resume on 
Monday afternoon at the District of Columbia Superior Court.

The case has drawn attention to whether people with multiple sclerosis and 
other medical conditions should be able to use marijuana for medicinal reasons.

Nearly 70 percent of voters in the nation's capital voted to allow the 
medical use of marijuana last year, but Congress has blocked the measure 
from becoming law.

A half-dozen states have offered ballot measures to legalize marijuana as 
medication, but the drug is banned by federal law and doctors hesitate to 
prescribe it. The Justice Department is challenging voter-approved laws in 
Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart