Pubdate: Sun, 31 Mar 2013
Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2013 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Contact: http://www.heraldtribune.com/sendletter
Website: http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398
Author: Shannon McFarland
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n103/a02.html, 
www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n092/a09.html

PARRISH MAN GROWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA REJECTS PLEA BARGAIN

A Parrish man whose home was raided for the marijuana plants he 
cultivated to help treat his wife's disease said he has turned down a 
plea bargain proffered by the state.

Robert Jordan, who grows marijuana to help treat Cathy Jordan's Lou 
Gehrig's disease, said he refused the state's plea deal because it 
required him to give up his right to a fair trial or stop cultivating 
the plant.

The State Attorney's Office and Jordan's attorney have negotiated for 
weeks about possible charges against Jordan. Jordan said potential 
charges are "still up in the air" as the talks continue, but he 
expects he will be charged soon.

"They'll probably bring charges on me (this) week," Jordan said. 
"They offered me a plea deal and I turned it down."

Jordan said the plant is the only substance that relieves the 
depression, lost appetite and muscle spasms that plague his wife. 
Most patients with Lou Gehrig's disease die after three to five 
years, muscle failure causing them to choke or suffocate; medicating 
with cannabis, Cathy Jordan, 62, has miraculously survived more than 
20 years beyond her doctors original predictions.

"I can't stop doing what I'm doing and let my wife die," Jordan, 64, 
said. "They only thing I can see is to throw myself on the mercy of the court."

While the Florida state legislature has never made a law permitting 
medicinal use of cannabis, with a bill named for Cathy Jordan this 
session becoming the first medical marijuana measure proposed in 
years, the courts have made exceptions in certain medical cases.

In 1988, a Broward County judge ordered that Elvy Musikka was not 
guilty for using and cultivating marijuana based on "medical 
necessity." With doctors and evidence to back her up, the judge 
ordered that she be allowed to continue the treatment, which had 
prevented glaucoma from taking the sight of remaining her eye.

Musikka's case set the precedent for the defense, with a few later 
cases supporting the decision. Still, the defense is rarely heard in 
court and relatively unknown even among attorneys.

"Certainly the more often the medical defense is applied and 
succeeds, the more legitimacy it gives to medical marijuana," said 
Karen Goldstein, the director of NORML of Florida, which advocates 
for marijuana reform. "The problem is a lot of attorneys don't know 
the defense exists in Florida and a lot of judges don't want to hear it."

'A political quagmire'

Robert Jordan said for him, it is the only defense he has - he does 
not believe it was wrong, but he did grow the plants. Yet he said 
prosecutors don't want to let him go and potentially open the door 
for claims of medicinal use.

Brian Iten, the assistant state attorney reviewing the case, said his 
office is considering materials submitted by Jordan's attorney, but 
charges are still pending.

Jordan's attorney, Michael Minardi, said he has applied the defense 
in several other cases for ailing patients who turned to marijuana 
after other drugs did not work or left them with debilitating side effects.

He said prosecutors have "complete discretion" to press charges or 
not. In cases that have make it to court with a medical defense, 
several have had charges dismissed or substantially reduced.

One of the troubles Minardi faces is bringing in doctors from other 
states: he has not found a doctor in Florida willing to testify about 
medical marijuana, many fearing repercussions on their medical licenses.

"It's a political quagmire that we're in, that we like to punish our 
citizens for something that is benign," Minardi said. "People's lives 
are more damaged by being arrested and charged for using it."

Minardi and a man he helped defend have started I'm a Patient Not a 
Criminal, a non-profit group that aims to raise awareness and aid 
people turning to cannabis for treatment.

Goldstein, of Florida's NORML chapter, said "no jury in the world" 
would convict Cathy Jordan, an outspoken supporter of medical 
marijuana while wheelchair-bound and needing constant care. The same 
defense should apply to Robert Jordan, she said.

"He's not manufacturing something to sell to people. He's growing 
medicine for his wife," Goldstein said. "They should just drop it, 
because if they try to bring him into court it's just going to cost 
them a lot of money." 
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