APPEALS COURT RULES VACAVILLE MAN CAN SMOKE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

FAIRFIELD -- A felon on probation can use medical marijuana, the state
Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

Last year Judge Luis Villarreal refused to let Jeffrey T. Gorden of
Vacaville smoke marijuana to treat his pain from fibromyalgia. Gorden
claimed the condition, which has an uncertain cause, gave him severe pain
and nausea and the alternative of prescription pain killers "made it next
to impossible for him to function." Gorden, 28, had been in front of
Villarreal for sentencing on a felony marijuana possession charge resulting
from his arrest after Vacaville police found seven marijuana plants growing
at Gorden's Lakehurst Drive home when they went there with a search warrant
in January 2002.

Gorden didn't have a doctor's "prescription" to show police but he got a
prescription two weeks after his arrest from a doctor in Berkeley.

Gorden's plants were tucked away in a closet outfitted with special
lighting and ventilation. Villarreal mentioned the elaborate growing
equipment when he challenged the legitimacy of Gorden's medicinal need.

Gorden's attorney, Leslie Prince, said she appreciated the appellate
ruling. "Gorden was an ideal candidate for a medical marijuana (appeal). He
had no criminal record and he never used illegal drugs of any kind before
he learned marijuana could help him," Prince said.

The justices declared Villarreal's prohibition on medical marijuana was
"arbitrary and capricious" but were careful to hedge their tacit
endorsement of medical marijuana by saying they were taking no position on
the propriety of the prescription.

The unpublished ruling from a three-justice panel declared Villarreal
abused his judicial discretion when he refused to let Gorden smoke marijuana.

The appellate ruling faulted Villarreal for referring to Gorden's medicinal
need as a "a nebulous diagnosis" and for contrasting it with diseases such
as cancer.

"If he can smoke dope, seems like he can take an anti-inflammatory like
Motrin," Villarreal had said, adding he felt Gorden "was playing a little
game."

"He's got a disease readily treatable by conventional means . . . he'll
have to choose some other option . . . because he can't use illegal drugs,"
Villarreal said when he sentenced Gorden to 30 days in jail, placed him on
three years probation and barred him from smoking his medication of choice.

"(Villarreal's) medical opinions . . . are not supported by anything . . .
(and) are uniformly contradicted by medical studies published by respected
medical institutions," the justices' opinion stated.

One of the three justices sided with Villarreal, arguing he was reasonable
to want something more than just a prescription, such as a letter from the
doctor, before allowing Gorden to use marijuana. The dissenting justice
also pointed out his brethren ignored Villarreal repeatedly saying he would
not permit Gorden to use marijuana because it is an illegal drug.