Man To Defend Marijuana Use

[DankCloset]

<img align="left" src="http://www.420times.com/gallery/files/2/4/medical.gif" border="0" style="margin-right:6px" alt="" width="80" height="80" />Colorado -- An HIV-positive man who smokes marijuana to fight nausea triggered by antiviral drugs can defend his pot use to a jury, a judge ruled Monday.

David La Goy, 46, is the second person to challenge a pot possession ticket issued by Denver police since city voters passed an initiative in November to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults.

In January, the city dismissed the first case after the prosecutor said police didn't have enough probable cause to justify searching the defendant's car, where the pot was found.

La Goy, whose trial is scheduled for September, was ticketed for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia on March 3.

Prosecutors opposed his request for a jury trial, saying La Goy wasn't in dire need of marijuana and hasn't tried medical alternatives to pot.

Tiffanie Bleau, the lead prosecutor, said La Goy hasn't talked to the the Colorado AIDS Project to obtain a legal medical marijuana prescription.

She also said that over the past eight years La Goy hasn't taken new medicines available to fight nauseas.

"I don't think all viable options have been pursued," she said. "He has to make at least some effort."

La Goy said he smokes pot to battle the nausea he gets from taking 15 pills every day to control his infection. La Goy also has hepatitis C and now weighs 103 pounds.

When he gets nauseous, La Goy said, he gets a watery mouth, hot and cold flashes, and sweats a lot.

At one time he drank ginger ale and ate crackers to deal with the queasiness but eventually turned to pot, which is more effective.

"You wish you could take one pill that could knock you out completely," La Goy said. "When you're unconscious, you're not sick."

La Goy's attorney, Sean McAllister, said his client can't afford a doctor to prescribe medical marijuana for him. La Goy receives $643 a month in disability payments and uses more than half of it for rent, he said.

"He throws up the drugs and lays in bed and doesn't do anything," McAllister said. "Marijuana is the only effective medicine."

Bob Melamede, a professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who teaches a medical marijuana class, said people with HIV prefer to smoke pot because it's less potent than antiviral drugs.

"For many people, it really is life-saving," he said.

Note: HIV sufferer who battles nausea taking case to jury.

News Hawk: DankCloset - 420times.com
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Author: Felix Doligosa Jr., Rocky Mountain News
Published: May 16, 2006
Copyright: 2006, Denver Publishing Co.

[ChesterO]

Originally Posted by chameleon140

For fucks' sake....the guy is dying, why can't they just let him have some peace before he checks out? Where's the fucking compassion? Damn, we have got the wrong people in charge of things in this nation.

Seriously.....if any politicians or any other government employees of any type ever surf this site for whatever reason, and see this post, I just want you to know that you're all cowards, and nobody respects you. Bitches. Stop caring about money so much, it's not that great.

Our "elected Officials" are just parasites upon society who only care about keeping their scheme going. Tha means getting re-elected at any cost. And that means controlling the populace in any way possible. And controlling the populace means that they must fear their government.

Which kinda explains why there are so many laws. That way if any individual presents a problem to government, there will always be something to pin on them to shut them up. (bankrupt them defending themselves in court)

Re-election is job security to our "elected officials". And if job security requires grinding the taxpayers under a millstone of regulations, then the political class is happy to churn out regulations. And look at all of the "campaign contributions" they get from interested parties... If big pharma is afraid that an herb (that they cannot patent) might cut into their business, then "campaign contributions" will grease the path to regulations that will favor "big pharma"... And the same will happen for "big tobacco" and "big alcohol" and "bid law enforcement"....

Ever notice how the "political class" bleats about helping the poor, and then passes legislation that hurts them?? I guess it's politically correct to love the downtrodden.... from a great distance.... and completely without sincerity.....

[DankCloset]

this conversation right here got me to punch a wall yesterday, so i think iamma just move on.

[ChesterO]

Originally Posted by chameleon140

You should be a journalist.

Given the current political climate, and given what I expect to see happening in the next 5 years.... Being a professional journalist might be more dangerous than being in the Army.... So, I'll continue as an anonymous pundit....

Confucious say: Journalist who speak truth while "Bush the Great" president, soon have mail forwarded to Gitmo (or special prison in Hungary, Yemen, etc...)

And thanks for the compliment....