JUDGE BARS MEDICAL NEED, PROP. 215 AS BASIS FOR DEFENSE IN MARIJUANA TRIAL

A federal judge ruled Friday that two medical marijuana activists
cannot use necessity as a defense in their upcoming drug trial. They
also cannot refer to their medical conditions, the medical uses of
marijuana or California's Proposition 215, which allowed the personal
use of marijuana for medical purposes, said U.S. District Judge George
King. Todd McCormick, who has bone cancer, and Peter McWilliams, who
has AIDS and cancer in remission, are accused of growing and
distributing marijuana. They were arrested after federal officials
found more than 6,000 plants growing in a Bel-Air mansion and three
other leased locations in Los Angeles County. McWilliams, a self-help
publisher, is accused of financing the operation. McCormick and others
are accused of growing the pot and trying to sell it to the Los
Angeles Cannabis Buyers Club, which has dispensed the drug since
Californians voted in 1996 to legalize it for medical use. They are
scheduled to stand trial Nov. 16. McWilliams said he was devastated by
the decision. "It's frustrating to be in a state where voters voted
that I can have this medication," he said. "I am needlessly dying at
the prime of my career." A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office
refused to comment beyond the judge's ruling. McWilliams said he has
admitted growing marijuana for his own use. He says he can only keep
down his AIDS medication by smoking marijuana and that his health has
suffered since his arrest in July 1998. King's ruling disallowed a
defense based on medical necessity because it "is not available as a
matter of law," since Congress has ruled marijuana has no medical merit.

Proposition 215 recognizes some medical benefits, but U.S. officials
say state laws do not apply to federal offenses.