RULING ON POT FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES DELAYED

DUBLIN - Joseph Walbroehl admitted in court Monday that he had 1.5 pounds
of marijuana in his car when he was stopped for speeding in Laurens County,
but he wants a judge to find him not guilty.

In a brief bench trial Monday, Walbroehl, 43, of Key West, Fla., said he
uses marijuana out of medical necessity. Walbroehl said he suffers severe
pain as a result of a car falling on him and from three other automobile
accidents.

He is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

His attorney, Joe Thalgott, argued that a Georgia law that allows medical
marijuana use for cancer and glaucoma - but not for severe pain sufferers
such as Walbroehl - is unconstitutional. After a trial that lasted less
than two hours, Superior Court Judge Gibbs Flanders said he will issue a
ruling later.

If Flanders decides against Walbroehl, Thalgott said he will appeal the ruling.

Walbroehl said outside the courtroom that he is not looking for blanket
protection of medical marijuana use.

"I do believe they should show some compassion and consider the law on a
case-by-case basis," he said.

In a hearing a year ago, Thalgott told Flanders his client wished to either
be found not guilty or be given the death penalty. Walbroehl said his pain
is so severe that he would rather die than live without marijuana.

It's the only drug, he said, that gives him relief from pain without
negative side effects.

Assistant district attorney Terry Holland said in his closing remarks that
finding Walbroehl not guilty would open the door for marijuana users to
claim medical-use privileges.

"Just to allow an individual to circumvent what the Legislature says is
improper," Holland told Flanders. "We cannot allow that to occur."

The Legislature decided in 1980 that cancer and glaucoma patients could use
marijuana, Thalgott said. He said the law violates the equal protection
clause of the U.S. Constitution, because it does not make the same
allowance for people with other medical problems, even though there may be
a similar need.

Walbroehl, who uses a walker, said doctors prescribed synthetic marijuana
to him, but it didn't have the same effect. He said he had a large amount
of marijuana only because he didn't like continuously going out and buying
it. That amount of marijuana, he said, would last him more than a year.

Walbroehl's ex-wife, Terri Walbroehl, testified that she is opposed to
marijuana use, but she said she saw the benefits it had for him and says he
should not be punished for using it.

In a bench trial, there is no jury and the judge takes sole responsibility
for deciding innocence or guilt.