Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 19:30:56 -0500
From: [c--o--n] at [dsmnet.com] (Carl E. Olsen)
Subject: Another victim

Washington Post May 17, 1995 

Man to Plead Guilty to Possession 

o A Charles County (MD) farmer faced with charges of possessing and 
manufacturing marijuana, which he said was for his personal medical 
use, has decided to enter a guilty plea to possession, his lawyer 
said yesterday. 
  In return, said Washington lawyer Frank A. Vasquez Jr., the state 
has agreed to drop the manufacturing charge against Jerome Sidney 
Mensch and to forgo any drug testing during a period of probation. 
Vasquez said his HIV-positive client was taking so many prescribed 
drugs that such tests could produce skewed results. 
  Mensch's case was the first in Maryland in which a defense involved 
the medical use of marijuana.  It had attracted the attention of the 
American Civil Liberties Union, which arranged for free legal representation. 
  Mensch won a partial legal victory in February when a Circuit Court 
judge ruled that there was enough evidence to justify a jury considering 
his medical defense.  But after prosecutors offered a plea agreement 
last month, his attorney said, Mensch "esentially decided he wants 
to get on with his life, and the stress of this whole situation 
was not very good for his health."

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