TRIAL HINGES ON POT'S PURPOSE

Man says it was for medical treatment; DA argues it was for sale

He says he smokes marijuana to relieve a stutter that has afflicted his
speech for 41 of his 49 years.

But prosecutors allege that the pound of marijuana seized by sheriff's
deputies in the Dutch Flat home of David Dale Black was not for his
personal use -either medicinally or recreationally.

They have charged Black with possession for sale, and on Thursday they
opened his trial in Placer County Superior Court by contending that a
scale, sandwich bags and $3,620 in cash found in close proximity to the
weed prove their point.

Black's defense -- that the drug was used strictly as a medical treatment
for a speech impediment -- hit a snag Wednesday when Judge J. Richard
Couzensruled Black could not rely on Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
initiative, as a legal justification.

Couzens pointed out that Black did not seek or obtain a doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana until three months after his arrest.

The judge did say, however, Black could testify about the benefits he
receives from marijuana to explain the presence of the pot in his home.

It will be up to the jury panel of 10 women and three men (one will be
designated an alternate at the close of the case) to decide which scenario
is true.

According to Deputy District Attorney David H. Tellman, Black admitted on
the day of his arrest in February 1997 to selling marijuana to friends.

Black's attorney, Robert A. Young, did not offer an opening statement to
the jury Thursday, but he said that when his client testifies, it will be
clear just how important marijuana is to his well-being. Young said Black
has been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder caused
by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

In a pre-trial proceeding, Black declared: "I'm in perfect health, except
for hyper-anxiety. In other words, I can't talk two words, back-to-back,
without smoking marijuana, once every other day, to where it stays in me,
you know, as a pill might work."

The trial will continue today.

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)