DEFENSE TRIES MEDICAL-NEED CLAIM FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION

BRONSON - Holding up pill bottles and reading the labels, a lawyer for a
man facing a marijuana charge told jurors Tuesday his client needs pot to
fend off nausea caused by prescription drugs, including morphine, codeine
and methadone.

Joe Tacl is on trial for growing marijuana. But he claims he needs it to
help his digestive system tolerate the massive doses of painkillers he has
had to take since his back was ruined when he was run over by a van six
years ago. Noting opponents of marijuana use say it leads to harder drugs,
defense attorney Gary Wainwright told jurors this case is the opposite.

"Harder drugs led this man to marijuana," Wainwright said during opening
statements at Tacl's trial in Levy County, a rural area west of Gainesville.

"What this case is about is basically a human being's right to have
health," Wainwright said.

The pill bottles were only one visual element to a trial that supporters of
medical marijuana and some advocates for the disabled cite as a test case
for a medical-need defense to marijuana possession.

Tacl, 46, has sat through most of the trial, in its second day after a day
of jury selection, in a wheelchair. But he has also occasionally had to
retire to a futon bed on the floor or to a hospital bed near the defense
table.

Tacl's 20-year-old son Michael is also on trial. The two are accused of
growing five marijuana plants, having more than 40 grams of the drug in
their house when they were arrested last year, and having several items of
drug paraphernalia such as pipes and grow lights, said prosecutor John
Wentzlaff.

The case has also drawn a few demonstrators to the front lawn of the
courthouse.

And the beginning of testimony was delayed as the judge heard from a Fort
Lauderdale advocate for the disabled whose service dog, Red Zeppelin, was
being denied access to the courtroom.

Circuit Judge Frederick Smith let the man, Frederick A. Shotz, bring his
reddish Doberman pinscher in after Shotz told him the dog, which pulls his
wheelchair, goes everywhere with him "from symphony concerts to baseball
games" and that to deny the dog access was to deny Shotz access.

Smith also had to contend with a heavy media presence, including cameras
from Court TV and area television crews, as well as a man with a video
camera making a documentary.

The first witness, a Levy County sheriff's deputy, testified he and his
partner originally spotted the marijuana while returning by helicopter from
another drug operation.

Other deputies testified that when officers returned to the home at a later
date, Tacl and his son told them the marijuana was theirs.

Wainwright told jurors Tacl has a Dutch prescription for marijuana, and
showed it to deputies. Marijuana is legal in the Netherlands.

A recent decision by the state Supreme Court effectively gave the OK to
people charged with marijuana possession to try to convince jurors they
need pot for their pain.

Tacl, who took several pills during the trial, had to be reminded several
times by the judge not to respond aloud to testimony. At one point, Tacl
blurted out "he's lying," during a deputy's testimony.

Prosecutor Tim Browning asked for a mistrial but Tacl's attorney argued his
client may be hurting his case, more than helping it, in the eyes of the jury.

The judge declined to grant the mistrial.

Tacl, a former car salesman, is one of the first to go before a jury in a
major marijuana possession case to ask a jury to buy the defense.

His lawyers told jurors he has four 8-inch titanium rods and several metal
screws in his back.

The painkillers he takes, including one so powerful it has to be
administered through a patch to control its dosage, have often left him
unable to keep food down.

Six states have laws allowing the use of marijuana under limited
circumstances for medical reasons.

Florida isn't one of them. Here, possession of large amounts is a felony,
as is growing it. If Tacl or his son are convicted, each could face up to
11 years in prison, although as first time felons they would be likely to
receive a much lighter sentence.