Pubdate: Mon, 29 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

WOMAN WITH MS CONVICTED OF POSSESSING MARIJUANA IN CONGRESSMAN'S
OFFICE

WASHINGTON  A Michigan woman with multiple sclerosis was convicted Friday 
of possessing marijuana in a congressman's Capitol Hill office in 1998.

Renee Emry Wolfe went to the office of Rep. Bill McCollum with a marijuana 
joint and a sign to protest his resolution on the House floor that day that 
said marijuana is a dangerous drug and should not be legalized for medical 
use, prosecutors argued. It is illegal to possess marijuana in Washington, D.C.

Wolfe's lawyer said she lit up the joint in the congressman's office on 
Sept. 15 out of medical necessity because it is the only way she gets 
relief from an oncoming attack of shaking and muscle tightening caused by 
her MS.

Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters of the District of Columbia Superior Court 
ruled in a nonjury trial that the defense had not met the burden of proof 
necessary for a medical defense.

However, she gave Wolfe a light sentence of 50 hours of volunteer community 
service and asked her to pay court costs of $50. The judge avoided imposing 
a formal probation that might have sent the Ann Arbor woman back to court 
for smoking marijuana.

"I would prefer that (Wolfe) return to her home and deal with her medical 
condition in whatever way she and her doctor deem appropriate," 
Duncan-Peters said.

Defense lawyer Jeffrey Orchard said he would consider whether to appeal the 
case.

The judge said there was little evidence Wolfe was suffering an attack of 
shaking at the congressman's office, and Wolfe apparently had not tried 
many alternative legal drugs for MS to see whether she suffered side 
effects from them.

"I do believe Mrs. Wolfe is guilty of possession," Duncan-Peters said. "I 
don't think a necessity defense has been made out in this case."

The defense never disputed that Mrs. Wolfe lit up the joint and was 
carrying a banner that said: "I use marijuana for medical purposes."

Orchard argued that Wolfe intended to simply tell the congressman about her 
own experience with marijuana but started to feel tense in a stressful 
environment when the congressman's aides did not want to talk with her. 
When she felt an attack of shaking coming on, she lit up the joint, he said.

"To avoid the dangers involved would mean never leaving her house," Orchard 
said in closing arguments earlier in the day. Mrs. Wolfe, he said, "was 
willing to go into the lion's den to express a simple truth, not to 
protest, not to thumb her nose at the government."

A neurologist, Dr. Denis Petro, said marijuana works as a muscle relaxant 
within seconds, if not a few minutes, allowing people with multiple 
sclerosis to control their shaking, or spasticity, as it occurs. Other 
drugs had severe side effects or were not effective, he said. Mrs. Wolfe 
had tried another drug but it caused mood swings and upset her stomach.

Prosecutor Alex Bourelly acknowledged "this is a unique case, and a unique 
defense" but it was clear Mrs. Wolfe possessed the marijuana.

He said the defense had failed to prove medical necessity because legal 
alternative drugs were available and it was not shown Mrs. Wolfe needed to 
smoke marijuana at the congressman's office.

The judge agreed.

"I think this case comes down to whether there was a necessity for (Wolfe) 
to possess marijuana on that day in the District of Columbia," 
Duncan-Peters said.

"There isn't any evidence she was suffering an attack of spasticity at the 
time she was in the congressman's office," the judge said, noting Wolfe had 
prepared for the meeting, even bringing a sign.

Mrs. Wolfe had hoped the case would draw attention to whether people with 
multiple sclerosis should be able to use marijuana for medical purposes. 
Mrs. Wolfe has difficulty walking and usually sits in a wheelchair.

"If part of her purpose or all of her purpose is to educate, I certainly 
consider myself educated during the process of this trial," the judge said 
after sentencing.

Mrs. Wolfe said she was encouraged by the judge's remarks that she might be 
able to convince others that marijuana was important for controlling MS 
symptoms.

A half-dozen states have passed ballot measures to legalize marijuana as 
medication, but the drug is banned by federal law and doctors hesitate to 
prescribe it. 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.
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