Pubdate: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 Source: Times-News, The (ID) Copyright: 1999 Magic Valley Newspapers Contact: P.O. Box 548, Twin Falls, ID 83303 Fax: (208) 734-553 Feedback: http://www.magicvalley.com/submit.html Website: http://www.magicvalley.com/ JUDGE WAS RIGHT TO THROW OUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA' DEFENSE If you think Idaho should legalize the medical use of marijuana, call your state legislators. But take this advice: Don't tell it to a judge. Especially if you've been caught holding enough "medical" weed to open your own pharmacy. Fifty-two-year-old Kathy Tadlock of Twin Falls tried out the medical marijuana defense last week in front of 5th District Judge Nathan Higer. Higer wasn't having any. He ruled that Idaho doesn't recognize a medical marijuana defense. A jury subsequently convicted Tadlock of possession with intent to deliver. Voters in several states have endorsed legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, but Idaho is not among them. Even if it were, Tadlock's claim of a medical need rang hollow. She was busted with half a pound of the drug, along with a supply of sandwich bags, scales and $5,000 in cash. Sandwich bags and scales are legal, of course, and so is cash. But when you put all that stuff together with half a pound of pot, it doesn't take Lt. Columbo to figure out somebody's dealing. In shaping her defense, Tadlock tried to cast herself as a crusader for her fellow medical sufferers. She's an example of why the medical-marijuana movement has a persistent image problem. People who campaign for the cannabis cure can't free themselves from a sticky association with drug dealers, die-hard hippies and recreational ozone wanderers. Marijuana's actual therapeutic value remains in dispute. Its advocates boast glowingly that it is one of humanity's oldest medicines and "the safest therapeutic drug known to man." They say it can be used to treat more than 100 diseases, including glaucoma, epilepsy, migraine, depression, arthritis, emphysema, yadda, yadda, yadda. Those claims notwithstanding, reputable medical research has not proven the drug's efficacy for those ailments. Yet considerable public sentiment exists for letting doctors prescribe marijuana. Voters in several states -- most notably California -- have voted to legalize reefer therapy. The typical (and not unreasonable) argument is ) ) that police and prisons shouldn't waste tax dollars locking up sick people ) ) for pursuing relief. The problem, as California has seen, is that once the door is open to medical use, a state has a hard time separating the sick from garden-variety dopers. Kathy Tadlock insists she's in the former group, contending marijuana was the only medicine that could relieve her pain. Maybe so. At any rate, she and those who agree with her are welcome to pitch their cause to Idaho's conservative Legislature. Or pass petitions to put the issue before Idaho's conservative voters. Lotsa luck either way. In the meantime, anyone tempted to try the medical marijuana defense should keep Tadlock's case in mind. And consider moving to Palo Alto. - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto