JUDGE WAS RIGHT TO THROW OUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA' DEFENSE

If you think Idaho should legalize the medical use of marijuana, call
your state legislators. But take this advice: Don't tell it to a judge.
Especially if you've been caught holding enough "medical" weed to open
your own pharmacy.

Fifty-two-year-old Kathy Tadlock of Twin Falls tried out the medical
marijuana defense last week in front of 5th District Judge Nathan
Higer.

Higer wasn't having any.

He ruled that Idaho doesn't recognize a medical marijuana defense.

A jury subsequently convicted Tadlock of possession with intent to
deliver. Voters in several states have endorsed legalization
of marijuana for medical purposes, but Idaho is not among them.
Even if it were, Tadlock's claim of a medical need rang hollow.

She was busted with half a pound of the drug, along with a
supply of sandwich bags, scales and $5,000 in cash. Sandwich bags
and scales are legal, of course, and so is cash. But when you put
all that stuff together with half a pound of pot, it doesn't take
Lt. Columbo to figure out somebody's dealing.

In shaping her defense, Tadlock tried to cast herself as a crusader for her
fellow medical sufferers.

She's an example of why the medical-marijuana movement has a
persistent image problem. People who campaign for the cannabis cure
can't free themselves from a sticky association with drug dealers, die-hard
hippies and recreational ozone wanderers. Marijuana's actual therapeutic
value remains in dispute.

Its advocates boast glowingly that it is one of humanity's
oldest medicines and "the safest therapeutic drug known to man."
They say it can be used to treat more than 100 diseases, including
glaucoma, epilepsy, migraine, depression, arthritis, emphysema,
yadda, yadda, yadda.

Those claims notwithstanding, reputable medical research has not
proven the drug's efficacy for those ailments. Yet considerable public
sentiment exists for letting doctors prescribe marijuana.

Voters in several states -- most notably California -- have voted
to legalize reefer therapy.

The typical (and not unreasonable) argument is ) ) that police and
prisons shouldn't waste tax dollars locking up sick people ) ) for
pursuing relief.

The problem, as California has seen, is that once the door is open
to medical use, a state has a hard time separating the sick from
garden-variety dopers. Kathy Tadlock insists she's in the
former group, contending marijuana was the only medicine that
could relieve her pain. Maybe so. At any rate, she and those who
agree with her are welcome to pitch their cause to Idaho's conservative
Legislature. Or pass petitions to put the issue before Idaho's
conservative voters.

Lotsa luck either way. In the meantime, anyone tempted to try
the medical marijuana defense should keep Tadlock's case in
mind. And consider moving to Palo Alto.