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Pot luck

An unemployed 35yearold HIVpositive man has beaten a
marijuanapossession rap under guidelines set by Proposition 215,
California's voterapproved medicalmarijuana law. Local activists said
that last week's dismissal of criminal charges is probably a
firstofitskind case in Los Angeles.

Officers arrested city resident Willie Perkins on December 6 and charged
him with misdemeanor possession for having less than an ounce of pot. But
Perkins was later able to present a note from Dr. Keith Beck of the
Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. The note simply established the doctor's
knowledge that Perkins was using marijuana for relief of HIVrelated
symptoms. Said Deputy City Attorney Maureen Siegel: "It was clear that it
was the intent of the doctor to give Mr. Perkins the option of using
marijuana to treat some of his symptoms. The doctor did not prescribe. What
he did was diagnose the patient's illness [and] state that he did not
object . . . We felt he had complied with the spirit of the law."

Medicalmarijuana activists have asserted that a "noobjection" letter from
a physician establishes a patient's legal right to use the drug under state
law, while not violating federal strictures against prescribing it. "I was
overjoyed," said Perkins. "The simple fact is that it's my medicine they
had seized. I had to go to court three times, and it was upsetting. I've
never had to go to court before."

Copyright =A9 1997, Los Angeles Weekly, Inc. All rights reserved.