MICHIGAN WOMAN WITH MS CONVICTED OF POSSESSING MARIJUANA IN CONGRESSMAN'S
OFFICE

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Michigan woman with multiple sclerosis was convicted
Friday of possessing marijuana in a congressman's Capitol Hill office in
1998.

Renee Emry Wolfe went to the office of Rep. Bill McCollum with a marijuana
joint and a sign to protest his resolution on the House floor that day that
said marijuana is a dangerous drug and should not be legalized for medical
use, prosecutors argued. They said she should be convicted because it is
illegal to possess marijuana in the District of Columbia.

Wolfe's lawyer said she lit up the joint in the congressman's office on
Sept. 15 out of medical necessity because it is the only way she gets relief
from an oncoming attack of shaking and muscle tightening caused by her MS.

Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters of the District of Columbia Superior Court
ruled in a nonjury trial that the defense had not met the burden of proof
necessary for a medical defense.

However, she gave Wolfe a light sentence of 50 hours of volunteer community
service and asked her to pay court costs of $50. The judge avoided imposing
a formal probation that might have sent the Ann Arbor woman back to court
for smoking marijuana.

"I would prefer that (Wolfe) return to her home and deal with her medical
condition in whatever way she and her doctor deem appropriate,"
Duncan-Peters said.

Defense lawyer Jeffrey Orchard said he would consider whether he should
appeal the case.

The judge said there was little evidence Wolfe was suffering an attack of
shaking at the congressman's office, and Wolfe apparently had not tried many
alternative legal drugs for MS to see whether she suffered side effects from
them.

"I do believe Mrs. Wolfe is guilty of possession," Duncan-Peters said. "I
don't think a necessity defense has been made out in this case."

The defense never disputed that Mrs. Wolfe lit up the joint and was carrying
a banner that said: "I use marijuana for medical purposes."

Orchard argued that Wolfe intended to simply tell the congressman about her
own experience with marijuana but started to feel tense in a stressful
environment when the congressman's aides did not want to talk with her. When
she felt an attack of shaking coming on, she lit up, he said.

"To avoid the dangers involved would mean never leaving her house," Orchard
said in closing arguments earlier in the day. Mrs. Wolfe, he said, "was
willing to go into the lion's den to express a simple truth, not to protest,
not to thumb her nose at the government."

A neurologist, Dr. Denis Petro, said marijuana works as a muscle relaxant
within seconds, if not a few minutes, allowing people with multiple
sclerosis to control their shaking, or spasticity, as it occurs. Other drugs
had severe side effects, he said. Mrs. Wolfe had tried another drug but it
caused mood swings and upset her stomach.

Prosecutor Alex Bourelly acknowledged "this is a unique case, and a unique
defense" but it was clear Mrs. Wolfe possessed the marijuana.

He said the defense had failed to prove medical necessity because legal
alternative drugs were available and it was not shown Mrs. Wolfe needed to
smoke marijuana at the congressman's office.

The judge agreed.

"I think this case comes down to whether there was a necessity for (Wolfe)
to possess marijuana on that day in the District of Columbia," Duncan-Peters
said.

"There isn't any evidence she was suffering an attack of spasticity at the
time she was in the congressman's office," the judge said, noting Wolfe had
prepared for the meeting, even bringing a sign. "I don't think going to a
congressman's office and using the marijuana there was designed to relieve
spasticity."

Mrs. Wolfe had hoped the case would draw attention to whether people with
multiple sclerosis should be able to use marijuana for medical purposes.

"If part of her purpose or all of her purpose is to educate, I certainly
consider myself educated during the process of this trial," the judge said
after sentencing.

Mrs. Wolfe said she was relieved the trial was over and encouraged by the
judge's remarks that she might be able to convince others that marijuana was
important for controlling MS symptoms.