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Newshawk: MAP - Making A Difference With Your Help
Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000
Source: Daily Press (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Daily Press
Contact: kjc@vvdailypress.com
Fax: (760) 241-1860
Author: Scott VanHorne, Staff Writer
COURT RULING MAY BE FIRST FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
VICTORVILLE - In what may be a first for San Bernardino County, two medical marijuana
advocates have won a court ruling that allows them to grow and use the drug.
"It's a victory in this county because now there is something on record that says how much
you can grow," said Anna Barrett, 29, of Victorville.
Barrett and her 32-year-old husband, Gary, were arrested for cultivation and distribution of
marijuana in June 1999 when San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies raided their home and
discovered a pot garden.
At the time, both of them had a doctor's recommendation to use the drug as required by
Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by voters in 1996.
On Thursday, the couple pleaded guilty to cultivation in a plea agreement with the San
Bernardino County District Attorney's office.
They were sentenced to three years probation, but Deputy District Attorney Geoff Goss and
Victorville Superior Court Judge Stephen Ashworth agreed to let the couple to grow and use
marijuana for medical use.
The court order allows them to possess up to 34 adult flowering plants that cannot exceed a
yield of more than 7.1 pounds, said Gary Barrett's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Linda
Forrest.
Forrest said the judge simply made his ruling based on the law set forth by Proposition 215,
which allows people to grow or possess marijuana if they have an oral or written
recommendation from a doctor.
"(The judge) can't really disagree with the law," she said, adding the order may be the first of
its kind in San Bernardino County.
Messages left for Goss, who prosecutes cases for the San Bernardino County Marijuana
Eradication Unit, were not returned Friday.
Gary Barrett said he began using marijuana six years ago to treat Chron's disease, a painful
bowel disorder, as well to help him quit using hard drugs.
"For me (marijuana) was the gateway back," Gary Barrett said.
Unlike the hard drugs he was addicted to, marijuana has allowed him to lead a normal life
with a regular job as a stage hand at a nearby outdoor theater, he said.
Anna Barrett began using marijuana to treat chronic pain after she fell five stories from an icy
ledge in London.
"It really changed her outlook when she got off the morphine," her husband said.
"It actually made my mind not focus on the pain all day long," Anna Barrett said.
Gary Barrett said he started growing pot soon after deputies raided his home because he
couldn't afford to purchase high-grade marijuana, which costs about $20 a gram.
The Barrett's have two rooms filled with marijuana plants, but they still aren't close to
reaching the limit set by the judge.
MAP posted-by: Jo-D
Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000
Source: Daily Press (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Daily Press
Contact: kjc@vvdailypress.com
Fax: (760) 241-1860
Author: Scott VanHorne, Staff Writer
COURT RULING MAY BE FIRST FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
VICTORVILLE - In what may be a first for San Bernardino County, two medical marijuana
advocates have won a court ruling that allows them to grow and use the drug.
"It's a victory in this county because now there is something on record that says how much
you can grow," said Anna Barrett, 29, of Victorville.
Barrett and her 32-year-old husband, Gary, were arrested for cultivation and distribution of
marijuana in June 1999 when San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies raided their home and
discovered a pot garden.
At the time, both of them had a doctor's recommendation to use the drug as required by
Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative passed by voters in 1996.
On Thursday, the couple pleaded guilty to cultivation in a plea agreement with the San
Bernardino County District Attorney's office.
They were sentenced to three years probation, but Deputy District Attorney Geoff Goss and
Victorville Superior Court Judge Stephen Ashworth agreed to let the couple to grow and use
marijuana for medical use.
The court order allows them to possess up to 34 adult flowering plants that cannot exceed a
yield of more than 7.1 pounds, said Gary Barrett's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Linda
Forrest.
Forrest said the judge simply made his ruling based on the law set forth by Proposition 215,
which allows people to grow or possess marijuana if they have an oral or written
recommendation from a doctor.
"(The judge) can't really disagree with the law," she said, adding the order may be the first of
its kind in San Bernardino County.
Messages left for Goss, who prosecutes cases for the San Bernardino County Marijuana
Eradication Unit, were not returned Friday.
Gary Barrett said he began using marijuana six years ago to treat Chron's disease, a painful
bowel disorder, as well to help him quit using hard drugs.
"For me (marijuana) was the gateway back," Gary Barrett said.
Unlike the hard drugs he was addicted to, marijuana has allowed him to lead a normal life
with a regular job as a stage hand at a nearby outdoor theater, he said.
Anna Barrett began using marijuana to treat chronic pain after she fell five stories from an icy
ledge in London.
"It really changed her outlook when she got off the morphine," her husband said.
"It actually made my mind not focus on the pain all day long," Anna Barrett said.
Gary Barrett said he started growing pot soon after deputies raided his home because he
couldn't afford to purchase high-grade marijuana, which costs about $20 a gram.
The Barrett's have two rooms filled with marijuana plants, but they still aren't close to
reaching the limit set by the judge.
MAP posted-by: Jo-D
