FLA. MAN ASKS LAURENS COURT TO OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

DUBLIN - A Florida man is asking Georgia's court system to give him
marijuana or give him death.

Superior Court Judge Gibbs Flanders agreed Tuesday to hold a hearing
on Joseph Walbroehl's motion to have a marijuana charge against him
declared unconstitutional.

Walbroehl's attorney Joe Thalgott told Flanders that Walbroehl suffers
severe pain as a result of four accidents, and marijuana is the only
drug that allows him to eat. He had been prescribed 17 other drugs.

"I don't know if I will make this motion, but he's asked me that if he
loses on final appeal, he wants the court to impose the death
penalty," Thalgott told Flanders.

Walbroehl, 42, of Key West, Fla., was arrested in Laurens County after
he was stopped for speeding. A 1.5-pound bag of marijuana allegedly
was found in his car, and he was charged with possession of marijuana
with intent to distribute.

Walbroehl said he came to Georgia to get the marijuana, which he said
would last him a year and a half.

Thalgott said Walbroehl's sternum was crushed when a car fell on him
while he was in the Air Force. Since then, Thalgott said, Walbroehl
has suffered three auto accidents, all from being rear-ended.

Walbroehl, wearing a neck brace, limped gingerly to the defense table
when his case was called. He had driven three days from Florida to
attend the hearing, but he made no comment.

Thalgott said the charge would be contested on state and federal
constitutional grounds. He said the charge violates the equal
protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because Georgia law allows
for the use of marijuana for glaucoma and cancer patients. He also
said denying Walbroehl the use of marijuana constitutes cruel and
unusual punishment.

Doctors in Florida prescribed Marinol, a synthetic form of marijuana,
to Walbroehl, but Thalgott said the drug costs him $800 per month,
while marijuana costs only $100 per month.

"It's not for social purposes," Thalgott said of Walbroehl's drug use.
"It's for quality-of-life purposes."

Assistant district attorney Brock Buchanan made no comment, saying he
needed time to review Thalgott's five-page motion.

Thalgott told Flanders that the evidentiary hearing on the motion
should take about four hours. Whichever way Flanders rules, the case
will likely be appealed. Thalgott said he wants the constitutional
issues to go through the appeals process before the case is tried. He
said Walbroehl is willing to take the case to the Georgia and U.S.
Supreme Courts if necessary.