I am all for the legal use of marijuana especially for medicinal purpose but this guy wants to use this as a defense for growing 71 plants in his parents home. Medicinal use is not a defense in this case. Good job of showing up in hospital robes and all. That will weigh on the jury during deliberations.
If he is that sick, 71 plants is way too many. Pot doesn't heal, it just makes the suffering less painful.
If 71 plants are too much, then we should make sure the government tell us what is too much of everything. Why do people need a 5,000 sq ft house? Why do people need lots of cars, guns, ammo, or even money??? Oh, how about food? What about land? Is too much a problem?
Pot does not cure cancer and it does not prevent cancer. It does not penetrate the cancer cell and destroy its life cycle but that is not the topic. We can go down a list of people who have died from cancer and smoked weed. We can start with Bob Marley and go down to the very personal and close relationship that I had. There is noting as substantial that can counter that because many people smoke pot and die of cancer and you have a long way to go to establish a link between weed and a cure. If one gets busted with 5 lbs. of marijuana they cannot plead personal use. They are charged with trafficking and distribution. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I would rather not see the manufacture, distribution, and sale shipped across the borders and children sent to ours.
The requirement for proof is on you. Exactly. There are literally 100's of studies and they confirm the medicinal treatment aspects of marijuana/cannabis but there is no evidence that it is preventative or curative.
While I agree with your premise, the point was really about the amount in terms of use vs. distribution. If his defense is that he wants to smoke/use pot for medicinal purposes, then 71 plants is way more yield than he would need for fresh smoke. His entire family was also charged. They were intending to sell and we all know that. Maybe they need the money for medical bills and I am sympathetic to that. It just appears that this person, understandably so, doesn't want to go to jail when he has incurable cancer. If he wanted to do nothing but sit at home and get high, I don't give a shit.
