COURT RULING MAY BE FIRST FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

VICTORVILLE - In what may be a first for San Bernardino County, two medical
marijuana advocates have won a court ruling that allows them to grow and
use the drug.

"It's a victory in this county because now there is something on record
that says how much you can grow," said Anna Barrett, 29, of Victorville.

Barrett and her 32-year-old husband, Gary, were arrested for cultivation
and distribution of marijuana in June 1999 when San Bernardino County
Sheriff's deputies raided their home and discovered a pot garden.

At the time, both of them had a doctor's recommendation to use the drug as
required by Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by
voters in 1996.

On Thursday, the couple pleaded guilty to cultivation in a plea agreement
with the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office.

They were sentenced to three years probation, but Deputy District Attorney
Geoff Goss and Victorville Superior Court Judge Stephen Ashworth agreed to
let the couple to grow and use marijuana for medical use.

The court order allows them to possess up to 34 adult flowering plants that
cannot exceed a yield of more than 7.1 pounds, said Gary Barrett's
attorney, Deputy Public Defender Linda Forrest.

Forrest said the judge simply made his ruling based on the law set forth by
Proposition 215, which allows people to grow or possess marijuana if they
have an oral or written recommendation from a doctor.

"(The judge) can't really disagree with the law," she said, adding the
order may be the first of its kind in San Bernardino County.

Messages left for Goss, who prosecutes cases for the San Bernardino County
Marijuana Eradication Unit, were not returned Friday.

Gary Barrett said he began using marijuana six years ago to treat Chron's
disease, a painful bowel disorder, as well to help him quit using hard drugs.

"For me (marijuana) was the gateway back," Gary Barrett said.

Unlike the hard drugs he was addicted to, marijuana has allowed him to lead
a normal life with a regular job as a stage hand at a nearby outdoor
theater, he said.

Anna Barrett began using marijuana to treat chronic pain after she fell
five stories from an icy ledge in London.

"It really changed her outlook when she got off the morphine," her husband
said.

"It actually made my mind not focus on the pain all day long," Anna Barrett
said.

Gary Barrett said he started growing pot soon after deputies raided his
home because he couldn't afford to purchase high-grade marijuana, which
costs about $20 a gram.

The Barrett's have two rooms filled with marijuana plants, but they still
aren't close to reaching the limit set by the judge.