HEART PATIENT'S CHARGE REDUCED

Felony drug charges have been reduced to misdemeanor charges for a
medically fragile Alexander City woman arrested last spring along with her
husband and sons.

Tammie Smith, 38, a heart-transplant patient, now faces charges of
second-degree possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The charges were reduced because the June bust resulted in Mrs. Smith's
first drug arrest and the amount of marijuana in her home was smaller than
the minimum required for felony charges, according to the Tallapoosa County
Narcotics Task Force.

Felony charges are pending against her husband, a stomach-cancer patient.
Authorities did not reduce the charges against him because William Smith,
54, has a criminal record. He is facing a 15-year-to-life sentence if
convicted.

Authorities are awaiting test results from the state forensics lab before
moving ahead on the case. The lab has been flooded with requests, causing
delays for law enforcement statewide, said Jay Turner, an investigator with
the task force.

The Smiths have cited high medical costs for their dilemma. Smith cannot
afford the prescribed drugs that stimulate his appetite. He said marijuana
was an inexpensive way to keep his weight up after having most of his
stomach removed.

Mrs. Smith said in a recent interview that she and her husband are doing
well, but he has not filled the $789 prescription for legal drugs to
stimulate his appetite.

Before cancer struck, Smith was the family breadwinner, supporting his
wife, her two sons and their adopted daughter.

Mrs. Smith received a heart transplant in 1999, after setting a record for
survival on a heart pump. She survived nearly three years, the longest the
machine called a left-ventricular assist device has kept anyone alive.

The time she spent waiting benefited hundreds of other cardiac patients,
doctors said, because she proved the device could be stretched into
long-term service.