DESPITE PRO-MARIJUANA PROTEST, GROWER'S DEFENSE WENT TO POT

Wadsworth Man, Wife Receive Probation for Cultivating Weed

MEDINA - A group representing the National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws protested Tuesday morning outside the Medina County
Courthouse with signs defending medicinal marijuana. They were there
in support of a Wadsworth man and woman who were being sentenced for
cultivating marijuana.

Jerry Welty uses marijuana to deal with a kidney disease, his lawyer,
Michael Ash, said in court. Before sentencing Welty, Common Pleas
Judge Christopher J. Collier noted growing marijuana is illegal in any
circumstance. He said he would take Welty's condition under
consideration in the sentence. Welty, 57, of 396 Akron Road, was
sentenced to two years probation on the third-degree felony charge.
His wife, Barbara Welty, 58, of the same address, received the same
sentence. If either violates their probation, he or she will be
sentenced to a year in prison.

County Prosecutor Dean Holman said an investigation began last year
after there was a fire at the Welty home and firefighters alerted the
Medina County Drug Task Force to marijuana plants there. Holman said
more than 60 plants were found.

The Weltys were indicted by a grand jury in August on the cultivation
counts. Barbara and Jerry Welty originally pleaded not guilty to the
charges. Jerry Welty changed his plea to no contest in December and
Barbara did the same last month.

Jerry Welty said he has Wegener's granulomatosis, a disease that can
cause kidney failure. He said several years ago doctors gave him three
to 10 years to live. Ash said marijuana helps Welty deal with pain
from headaches and arthritis, and with his loss of appetite.

"He chose not to get involved on the street. He chose to grow in his
own home", Ash said. Outside the courtroom, Jerry Welty said he was
disappointed with the sentence, even though he avoided jail time."I
still have to suffer the pain," he said.

"He's not hurting anyone, not even himself. We're just here to support
him," NORML of Ohio President Kim Schmidt said.

According to the NORML Web site, the group believes in a person's
right to use marijuana when a doctor recommends it. "We believe the
patients should be first," said Cher Neufer, a Lodi resident and NORML
of Ohio founder.

Cultivation "is against the law," Holman said Tuesday. "This office
and the law enforcement officials and the courts enforce the law."

He also noted that using or growing marijuana for medicinal purposes
is not a valid defense in Ohio.