WOMAN: JOINT IS A MEDICAL NECESSITY

She Lit One Up In D.C. Office

WASHINGTON (AP) - Renee Emry Wolfe says the only way she gets relief when
her muscles go into spasm from multiple sclerosis is to take a few puffs
from a marijuana joint.

Last year, the Ann Arbor, Mich., woman lit up a joint in a congressman's
office to bring the issue of medical marijuana to the federal government's
attention. Now Wolfe is goint on trial trial here for possession of a
controlled substance.

"This patient has run out of patience," Mrs. Wolfe, a mother of three said
while sitting in her wheelchair after a trial appearance yesterday. "It's
an uphill battle that I'm fighting. But I feel that if I have to talk to
every judge in this country to get things changed, I will."

U.S. attorneys are prosecuting the case because "the possession of
marijuana is against the law in the District," spokesman Channing Phillips
said.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Anita Josey-Herring decided
yesterday to set an April 26 trial date for the case.

In the meantime, a national debate over the use of mrijuana for medical
reasons is growing.

Voters in six states have approved measures in the last few years allowing
use of marijuana for medical reasons - California, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon,
Nevada and Washington. Congress has barred the counting of voting results
from a similar measure on the ballot last fall in the District of Columbia.

The New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of medical
marijuana, and the American Medical Association altered its policy and
voted to urge the National Institutes of Health to support more research on
the subject.

On Sept. 15, Wolfe went to the offices of Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., to
protest his resolution on the House floor that day that said marijuana is a
dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medical use.

Mrs. Wolfe, 38, said she uses marijuana as a medical necessity.