MEDICAL USE OF POT DEFENDED

BRONSON -- Smoking marijuana gave Joseph S. Tacl back at least some of his
life, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Tacl's life had became a constant battle with pain and nausea beginning in
1993 when a van ran him down in Leesburg.

New Orleans defense attorney Gary Wainwright said Tacl, 46, began growing
pot at his Levy County home so he wouldn't have to buy it from prospective
criminals.

Wainwright said it is a tragic irony that Tacl was driven to smoke pot
because the legal, government-approved drugs he took to fight the pain made
him sick.

"He is a government approved drug addict," Wainwright said.

Still, the state will try to prove in a trial that began here Monday that
Tacl and his son, Michael, 20, were illegally growing marijuana in 1998 and
possessed drug paraphernalia and a bag full of marijuana seeds. Prosecutors
say the medical use of marijuana is a separate issue to be decided in a
different forum.

Assistant State Attorney John Wentzlaff presented a six-member jury with a
straight-forward, brief opening statement simply outlining the state's case.
The two men are charged with growing nine marijuana plants, possessing
equipment to grow it and pipes to smoke it with, and possession of more than
20 grams of marijuana.

Tacl says he needs to smoke marijuana to relieve nausea and intestinal
problems brought on by morphine and codeine and a host of other drugs.
Wainwright said Tacl has metal bars and screws in his spine from operations
following the 1993 accident.

At various times during the trial, Tacl went from his wheelchair to lie in a
hospital-type bed in the courtroom, although he can walk short distances
with the aid of a cane. Tacl set up a tent on the lawn of the Levy County
Courthouse where he rested before Tuesday's session.

The bed in the courtroom isn't the only odd twist in this trial.

Circuit Court Judge Frederick Smith allowed a 108-pound Doberman pinscher
named "Red Zeppelin" into the courtroom. The highly trained animal works for
Frederick A. Shotz, a medical marijuana advocate who is in a wheelchair.
Shotz is threatening a lawsuit of his own based on Red Zeppelin being
detained at the courthouse.

Outside the courthouse Tuesday, the atmosphere was like a mini- Hempfest,
the annual celebration in downtown Gainesville that espouses the benefits of
hemp and the legalization of marijuana. There were hemp lotions and oils and
material at a table manned by Michael Palmieri of the Zephyrhills-based
Florida Organization for Reformed Marijuana Laws. It is trying to gather
enough signatures to get the legalization of marijuana for medical use on a
statewide ballot.

Others gathered in support of the Tacls.

"I am holding vigil because I think Joe's gotten the short end of the
stick," said Samantha Leadingham. "This is about Joe (not legalized marijuana)."

"I think the son is a (health) provider. They should be allowed to help
people as best they can," Leadingham said.

The state first called Levy County deputies Tuesday who told how in May 1998
they flew a helicopter over the Tacl resident and spotted the marijuana
plants. They returned three days later with the helicopter and ground forces
to confiscate the plants. They were confronted by the Tacls and they were
arrested. Tacl's wife, Ann, was also charged, but the charges were dropped
Friday. The deputies returned a third time with a search warrant and found
marijuana seeds and paraphernalia.

Wainwright is expected to argue today that Tacl -- a former car salesman and
Black belt in karate -- obtained a prescription for marijuana from Dutch
doctor R. H. Trossel, but that it was impossible to fill legally in the
United States. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively gave the OK
to people charged with marijuana possession to try to convince jurors that
the pot is needed for pain management.

That could prove to be Tacl's way out of the felony charges against him. But
his son may have a tougher time.

Authorities confiscated pipes that they will try to show Michael used to
smoke the illegal weed. Wentzlaff said Michael's prints were found on a pipe.

But Wainwright said that proves only that he helped provide his father pain
relief.

The trial will continue today.