WEED IT & WEEP! GRANNY'S BUSTED

She is 71 years old, a great-grandmother - hardly the type of person
you would expect to see in Bronx Criminal Court to answer charges of
buying two dime bags of pot.

Yet at the appointed time today, Barbara Jackson will make her way to
the courthouse, a colorectal cancer survivor ready to plead her case.

"I smoke it to live," the feisty granny told the Daily News. "I don't
think I should have been arrested."

Jackson said she started smoking the green, leafy drug eight years
ago - a year after being diagnosed with cancer - to restore her
appetite after chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"After cancer treatments, I was very sick," she said. "I couldn't eat
and could not stand the smell of food."

Even though her cancer is in remission, she lost her appetite, Jackson said.

On March 13, she set out to find some more of the illegal drug she
has grown dependent on. She found some close to her house on E.179th
St. and began walking down Walton Ave.

Plainclothes cops suddenly descended on her and found the two bags of
marijuana on her.

"I am looking for a dismissal in the interest of justice," said Ron
Kuby, one of two lawyers representing Jackson. "I would hope the
Bronx district attorney's office has more important cases than
prosecuting a great-granny for medicinal marijuana."

After her arrest, Jackson was handcuffed and brought to jail. She was
taken to the 46th Precinct stationhouse, photographed, fingerprinted
and issued a desk appearance ticket that she must answer today.

Her other lawyer, David Pressman, said it's heartbreaking to see a
senior citizen who was "just trying to survive" handcuffed and held
in police custody for five hours.

Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney's office,
said his office is not aware of the case because it hasn't come into
the the DA's office.

Jackson hopes to get a chance to tell her story.

She weighed 99 pounds when she entered Lincoln Hospital in 1998.
After surgery and treatments she lost even more weight. Jackson said
her doctor prescribed an appetite enhancer, but it made her sick.

"The medicine gave me a terrible headache," said Jackson, who was
raising three great-grandchildren at the time. "I was very weak and
sick after treatments. I had diarrhea and was vomiting all the time.

"The smell of food made me sick and I was nauseous," she said. "The
marijuana calmed me down and gave me back my appetite. My taste buds
are gone, but the marijuana helps me get the food down."

Jackson said she puffed marijuana twice a day in the privacy of her
home. Jackson, who now weighs 124 pounds, credits the marijuana with
saving her life.

"The marijuana has kept me alive; I wouldn't be here if I didn't
smoke," Jackson said. "I know it's illegal, but I did what I had to
do to make myself comfortable and restore my quality of life."