Advocate of Medical Marijuana Out of Jail
Drugs: BelAir man who housed 4,000 plants is bailed out by actor Woody
Harrelson. But suspect is upset he cannot use pot for cancerrelated pain.
By SUE MCALLISTER, Special to The Times
 

After his latenight release from federal custody on bail provided by
actor Woody Harrelson, medical marijuana activist and cancer patient
Todd McCormick expressed relief Wednesday at being out of jail and
frustration at being unable to quell his pain using
physicianprescribed marijuana.      "I'm feeling emotionally very up
but physically a little tense," McCormick said Wednesday afternoon.
He was released from jail at midnight, he said.      McCormick's
BelAir mansion, rented for $6,000 a month with the advance money for
a book that he is writing on the medical uses of marijuana, housed
more than 4,000 pot plants when he and four others were arrested July
29 and charged in U.S. District Court with conspiring to sell the
plants.      His supporters say McCormick, 27, cultivated marijuana
to combat his pain from recurrent cancer and supplied it to others
for medical use.      Harrelson, a longtime advocate of industrial
hemp and medical marijuana, offered to post bail last week, but
McCormick's release was delayed while federal prosecutors made sure
that the actor understood the obligations involved.      Harrelson,
who is filming in Australia, posted the $500,000 bond Tuesday with
the help of one of his business partners, said Alan Isaacman, a
lawyer for McCormick.      McCormick said he has not known Harrelson
long.      "He knows my medical condition and my intentions, and he
knows I'm no criminal," McCormick said.      Harrelson's spokesman
was not available for comment Wednesday.      Passage of California's
Proposition 215 in November legalized marijuana use for those with a
doctor's prescription, but the law does not allow the sale of
marijuana. Further, the law is not applicable if McCormick is
indicted under federal drug laws.      "It's a belief on our part
that he ought not to be tried in federal court," Isaacman said. "We
will attempt to persuade them [the U.S. attorney's office] that the
case is more properly tried in state court, or frankly not anywhere.
Mr. McCormick was acting under state law at all times."
     McCormick's lawyers have said that the U.S. attorney has not
presented any evidence that McCormick was selling marijuana.
     McCormick said Wednesday that he was suffering from neck pain
but was prohibited by the conditions of his bail from smoking
marijuana to ease his discomfort. Five of his vertebrae were fused as
a result of childhood bone cancer, he said, causing him frequent
pain.      "[Marijuana] is his medication and he cannot use his
medication under order of the court," said Peter McWilliams,
McCormick's friend and publisher. "He's in the situation that if he
uses his medication, he will be imprisoned." Copyright Los Angeles
Times