MEDICAL POT LAW TESTED IN LOCAL CASE

Cops seize 64 plants in 1998

An Angels Camp man who has prescriptions for medical marijuana is on trial
this week in a case advocates hope will blow away the haze shrouding how
much medicine pot users need to grow and smoke.

William Harrison, a local sculptor, faces felony marijuana cultivation and
possession for sale charges. He's also charged with being an ex-felon with a
gun.

The trial opened last Wednesday in Calaveras County Superior Court and will
continue today, Friday.

Authorities raiding Harrison's outdoor gardens near Camp Nine Road and
Douglas Flat seized 64 cannabis plants on Sept. 17, 1998.

Local sheriff's deputies arrested Harrison a few days later despite finding
his written doctor's prescription for marijuana while searching his home
said Bill Logan, the defendants attorney.

Harrison, who suffers severe pain nausea, tinnitus and vertigo stemming from
a chest infection he suffered a number of years ago, has permission from Dr.
Eugene Schonfeld of San Francisco and Dr. Mike Kifune of Arnold to use
marijuana, Logan said.

Patients can legally use marijuana with a doctor's prescription under
California's Prop. 215 or compassionate use act, which voters approved in
1996.

Harrison has had a doctor's permission to use medical marijuana since March,
1997, Logan said.

But that meant nothing to authorities arresting Harrison, who allegedly told
him he could use the prescriptions for toilet paper, Logan said.

Prosecutors contend that Harrison was growing $500,000 worth of cannabis-way
too much pot for his own consumption.

Barbara Yook, the Calaveras County deputy district attorney trying the case,
told jurors that Harrison would have to smoke an ounce a day for a year, or
57 joints, to consume all the pot he was growing.

But authorities are basing that accusation on faulty assumptions about plant
yield and patient consumption, said Chris Conrad, a self described cannabis
expert from El Cerrito who testified for the defence.

Agencies like the National Institute on Drug Abuse give figures on how much
pot a medical marijuana patient might need, and these figures make
Harrison's use seem reasonable, Conrad said.

He pointed out that a federal marijuana program provides its patients six or
seven pounds of cannabis a year.

But law enforcement authorities keep these figures away from officers,
according to Conrad.

"So the police officer thinks a pound is too much," Conrad told the
Enterprise later. "Why don't the feds tell the cops how much they give? I
don't really blame the police."

Conrad added that patients such as Harrison need to grow more than they can
use in a year to insulate against the risks of growing. He noted that
cannabis loses about 10 percent of its potency per year, making it good for
at least a couple of years.

Logan, the defence attorney, said he hopes an acquittal in the case will
help protect legitimate medical marijuana patients from arrest and
prosecution.

He added, however, that he'd like more direction from the state on Prop.
215.

I wish there was some kind of uniformity and notice to people with terrible
medical conditions," said Logan.

If a cop can say what's too much in his opinion, he might just say that one
joint is too much," Logan continued, adding that state law protects patients
from prosecution.

Medical marijuana users should not have to clear the issue in court and
taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for these prosecutions, said
Logan.

Yook, the prosecutor, did not return repeated requests for comment.