Pubdate: Mon, 10 Dec 2001
Source: Birmingham News (AL)
Copyright: 2001 The Birmingham News
Contact:  http://www.al.com/bhamnews/bham.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45
Author: Carla Crowder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

HEART PATIENT'S CHARGE REDUCED

Felony drug charges have been reduced to misdemeanor charges for a 
medically fragile Alexander City woman arrested last spring along with her 
husband and sons.

Tammie Smith, 38, a heart-transplant patient, now faces charges of 
second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. 
The charges were reduced because the June bust resulted in Mrs. Smith's 
first drug arrest and the amount of marijuana in her home was smaller than 
the minimum required for felony charges, according to the Tallapoosa County 
Narcotics Task Force.

Felony charges are pending against her husband, a stomach-cancer patient. 
Authorities did not reduce the charges against him because William Smith, 
54, has a criminal record. He is facing a 15-year-to-life sentence if 
convicted.

Authorities are awaiting test results from the state forensics lab before 
moving ahead on the case. The lab has been flooded with requests, causing 
delays for law enforcement statewide, said Jay Turner, an investigator with 
the task force.

The Smiths have cited high medical costs for their dilemma. Smith cannot 
afford the prescribed drugs that stimulate his appetite. He said marijuana 
was an inexpensive way to keep his weight up after having most of his 
stomach removed.

Mrs. Smith said in a recent interview that she and her husband are doing 
well, but he has not filled the $789 prescription for legal drugs to 
stimulate his appetite.

Before cancer struck, Smith was the family breadwinner, supporting his 
wife, her two sons and their adopted daughter.

Mrs. Smith received a heart transplant in 1999, after setting a record for 
survival on a heart pump. She survived nearly three years, the longest the 
machine called a left-ventricular assist device has kept anyone alive.

The time she spent waiting benefited hundreds of other cardiac patients, 
doctors said, because she proved the device could be stretched into 
long-term service.
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MAP posted-by: Beth