Wayne may dismiss pot charges for AIDS patients

[photo] Aids patient Peter McWilliams, an Allen Park native now living in
California, faces a hearing on a charge of pot possession.

By David Shepardson / The Detroit News

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office suggested Wednesday it would dismiss
marijuana possession charges for an AIDS patient using the drug under a
doctor's care.

Dismissing the misdemeanor charge for Peter McWilliams, an Allen Park
native now living in California, would open the door to others in Wayne
County who received recommendations to use the drug from their doctors,
advocates and some legal experts suggested.

The misdemeanor charge has a possible oneyear jail sentence. McWilliams
was caught with marijuana at Detroit Metropolitan Airport while on a trip
to the area in December.

"There may not be any intent to break the law from an outofstate
individual," said Richard Padzieski, chief of operations, who said his
office would wait to receive letters from McWilliams' doctors before making
a final decision.

In California, state law allows doctors to recommend marijuana, although
they do not prescribe it.

Tina Brooks Green, chief judge of the 34th District Court in Romulus, set a
July 18 trial date Thursday. "Hopefully, we can dismiss your case before
trial," said Green. Added Assistant Prosecutor Maria Petito, who is
handling the case: "We are all hopeful this won't go to trial."

McWilliams, a 47yearold Los Angeles writer, was caught with seven
marijuana cigarettes. He was on a "Lazarus tour," visiting friends and
family because he was fearful he might not live out the year.

But since then, McWilliams' prognosis has improved, thanks to an
experimental threedrug combination that suppresses the AIDS virus and his
AIDSrelated cancer is in remission. "All these drugs cause nausea and
marijuana is the only thing that counters that," McWilliams said.

McWilliams could have accepted probation, but chose to fight the charge to
help those suffering from arthritis, multiple sclerosis or AIDS who wish to
use the drug for medicinal reasons. "I've been given a torch to help others
like me that are suffering to get the medical treatment they need," said
McWilliams.

Renee Emry, 37, of Ann Arbor, was convicted last year of felony manufacture
of marijuana for growing the drug. She still uses it daily to relieve the
pain of her multiple sclerosis, she said, but doesn't grow it.

"I can call Dr. Kevorkian and have me kill myself and that's socially
acceptable, but I can't fire up a marijuana joint to ease my pain," said
Emry, who unsuccessfully ran for Ann Arbor City Council in 1995. "It's
wrong what they're doing to (McWilliams) and me."

Michigan prohibits the use of medicinal marijuana and unlike nine other
states, including Illinois and Wisconsin, does not allow doctors to
prescribe it. In 1979, the state Legislature passed Public Act 125,
allowing the medicinal use of marijuana, but the provisions subsequently
expired in 1987, making its use illegal.

Copyright 1997, The Detroit News