Pubdate: Sat, 01 Aug 1998
Source: Fresno Bee, The
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/

JUDGE SAYS JAILED MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE MUST RECEIVE MEDICATION

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Friday that a medical marijuana
advocate jailed on drug charges must have access to medications to treat his
AIDS and cancer.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Wistrich said he will ensure Peter McWilliams
receives the appropriate medicine, but the judge also turned down a request
to lower his $250,000 bail.

McWilliams, a self-help publisher who allegedly financed an operation that
grew more than 6,000 marijuana plants, had complained he wasn't regularly
receiving his required medication. He also said he suffered from cuts on his
hands and feet that could expose him to infections.

McWilliams vomited repeatedly in court Friday, prompting guards to keep a
trash can nearby.

McWilliams pleaded innocent Monday to conspiracy to grow marijuana,
possessing the drug with the intent to distribute, and distributing it. He
was arrested with another man July 23 under a federal indictment that
alleged he and others grew thousands of marijuana plants.

Another medical marijuana advocate, Todd McCormick, was arrested in the same
case along with four others. McCormick was arrested last year after
authorities found more than 4,000 marijuana plants at a rented Bel-Air
mansion. He remains free on bail.

The men claimed they grew the marijuana to supply clubs who sell the drug to
help ease the pain of people suffering chronic or terminal illnesses.

The medical marijuana advocates have maintained they did nothing illegal
under Proposition 215, the state initiative that legalized the cultivation,
use and possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes on a doctor's
recommendation.

Federal courts have not recognized the state law.

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Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"