JURORS TO HEAR "MARIJUANA MEDICINE" CASE

For the first time in Hays County and possibly in all of Texas, jurors will
decide this week if marijuana seized from a local legalization advocate was
grown solely as medicine.

District Judge Robert T. Pfeuffer on Tuesday ruled admissible the "medical
necessity" defense of Jeffrey "Zeal" Stefanoff, whose Rolling Oaks home was
raided by the Hays County Narcotics Task Force three years ago.

"This is a landmark case," said attorney David Sergi, who presented two
expert witnesses in a hearing held Tuesday outside the presence of the jury
pool.

Before ruling the defense admissible, Pfeuffer heard testimony from Dr. G.
Alan Robinson, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas Health
Science Center at Houston and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic, and Dr. Joel
Hochman, a Houston psychiatrist and former marijuana researcher.

Robinson, who described himself as "an expert in how drugs do what they
do," testified that THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the active
ingredient in marijuana, has a variety of medicinal applications, from
controlling pain to preventing nausea in cancer patients on chemotherapy,
stimulating the appetite of patients wasting away from AIDS, and stopping
spasms characteristic of conditions like Multiple Sclerosis.

"It is a relatively safe drug, I would say," he said, and one he
characterized as being unique because researchers have been unable to
define it in terms of toxicity. "You could not calculate that," he said.
"No matter how much you injected into a mouse you would not kill it."

Robinson also spoke about the differences in absorption between smoked
marijuana and oral medications like Marinol, a synthetic form of THC that
had been prescribed for Stefanoff. "Smoking is always more rapid," he said,
adding that patients generally "smoke just enough" to get relief.

He further said the primary side effect of marijuana is the euphoria that
makes it a popular recreational drug. "It bothers some people to experience
that euphoria," Robinson said. "There really are no negative side effects
other than that."

Assistant District Attorney Cathy Compton, on cross examination, asked
Robinson hypothetically that if nicotine were found to have medicinal
value, would he recommend his patients smoke cigarettes.

"Tobacco is an extremely potent drug," Robinson said. "Nicotine is one of
the most violent poisons we know."

Hochman testified that he has been treating Stefanoff for about two years
and prescribed Marinol after other drugs failed to relieve his symptoms of
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Hochman said Stefanoff suffered from a range of symptoms characteristic of
PTSD including depression, anxiety, night terrors and fits of rage. It all
started after the death of Stefanoff's first wife, Hochman testified.
"Another stress was dealing with his arrest," he said.

Sergi said the case is important because it is the first time a Texas
attorney has been allowed to argue that medicinal use of marijuana
qualifies under the state's broadly worded necessity defense statutes.
"This case may allow thousands of ill Texans a right to their medicine that
people in Alaska, Oregon, California, Washington, Arizona, Maine and
Washington DC have voted for," he said.

"Our medicines and medications should be between only us and our doctors
and we should not have to fight it case by case," Stefanoff said.

Prior to Tuesday's hearing, Stefanoff signed papers acknowledging that the
15 marijuana plants seized from his property in the July 1997 raid were his.

Jury selection continues today. If convicted, Stefanoff could face up to
two years in a state jail.