WOMAN FACES D.C. TRIAL IN POT-SMOKING CASE

Renee Emry Wolfe, an Ann Arbor resident who smokes marijuana for her
multiple sclerosis, was facing a trial today in the District of
Columbia Superior Court in Washington, D.C.

The trial stems from a 1998 arrest when Wolfe lit up a marijuana joint
in the outer offices of U.S. Rep Bill McCollum. She was visiting the
Florida Republican to oppose his legislation against medical marijuana.

Wolfe, a 39-year-old mother of four, waged another legal battle after
she was arrested in 1994 when narcotics officers found nine marijuana
plants in her Ann Arbor home. She was convicted by a jury, but a judge
threw out a fine because she was using marijuana for medical reasons.

Wolfe also was arrested for selling marijuana to an undercover
officer. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months on
probation and 40 hours of community service.

An unsuccessful Liberatarian candidate for Ann Arbor City Council in
1995, Wolfe has helped circulate petitions for the medical marijuana
initiative the party wants on the November ballot.

"I cannot heel-to-toe walk before I smoke," she said. "After I smoke,
I can heel-to-toe walk as far as I want to. I have no appetite if I
don't smoke. If I do, I have an appetite. I have insomnia if I don't
smoke. If I do, I don't have insomnia."