JURY CONVICTS PAIR ON MARIJUANA CHARGES DESPITE MEDICAL CLAIMS

A Sacramento Superior Court jury Thursday convicted two men of
harvesting marijuana, but acquitted them of raising the pot to sell to
others.

Michael C. Urziceanu and Michael T. Reitmeier, both 37, claimed they
were medical-marijuana patients who grew the pot legally for their own
use under provisions of Proposition 215.

The two, however, were also convicted of possession of marijuana for
personal use.

"What this verdict means to me is that the jury rejected the medical
defense," said Deputy District Attorney Caroline Park.

Had the jury believed the men were legally entitled to grow the
marijuana, they would have been acquitted of all counts, the
prosecutor said.

They face a maximum of three years in custody at sentencing June 20
before Judge Judy Holzer Hersher.

San Francisco defense attorneys David Nick and Zenia Gilig could not
be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

The men were charged after nearly 390 marijuana plants were found in a
Carmichael warehouse.

Prosecutor Park argued that the men were making a sham out of the 1996
proposition, which allows pot cultivation by the seriously ill. She
said the quantity of marijuana they raised exceeded what they needed
for personal use.

Reitmeier said he smoked marijuana to help alleviate arthritic pain
that began in the early 1990s.

Urziceanu maintained he inhaled pot to soothe lingering pain that
began in the mid-1980s when he broke his neck.