Pubdate: Sun, 19 Dec 2004
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright: 2004 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Molly Borgstrom, Baraboo News Republic
Cited: Is My Medicine Legal YET? www.immly.org
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Madison
http://madison.norml.net/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

POT CASE TOSSED OUT DUE TO RX

Woman Had California Prescription

BARABOO - A Sauk County judge has tossed out a marijuana possession case
because the defendant had a California prescription to have the pot for
medical reasons.

"I've been doing this for 17 years, and this is the first such
prescription I've seen," said Assistant District Attorney Kevin
Calkins, the prosecutor in the case.

Medical marijuana is illegal in Wisconsin, but possession is allowed
if the patient has a valid prescription from a practitioner licensed
to prescribe the drug.

Calkins said the defendant, Cheryl A. Lam, 53, of Sun Prairie,
displayed the proof of her prescription in court, and Sauk County
Circuit Judge James Evenson dismissed the case.

Calkins said he doubted the Dec. 13 ruling would affect future cases
because legal precedent isn't established on the circuit court level,
and his office does not plan to take the case to appeals court.

But Gary Storck, a spokesman for the Madison chapters of Is My
Medicine Legal YET? and the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, said he was excited to hear what happened.

"I think any time that a judge rules that a person has the right to
use their medicine in the state of Wisconsin, it's significant," he
said.

Court documents filed by Lam's lawyer said she had a medical card
signed by a California doctor who was licensed to prescribe marijuana
as medicine.

California and 10 other states have laws that allow the use of medical
marijuana.

Court records show authorities at Devils Lake State Park arrested Lam
July 31 after they responded to a fight between her and her three sons
at her campsite.

Lam turned over two plastic bags of marijuana and a pipe. She had 3
grams in her possession, court records show.

Lam began to use medical marijuana after being bitten by a brown
recluse spider in 1995 and having a severe reaction, including lesions
over all of her body, according to court documents.

A Chinese medicine practitioner used herbs, including cannabis, to
treat Lam, and in 2000 she went to California doctor Tod H. Mikuriya,
who prescribed medical marijuana, the documents show.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin