Medical Use Ruled Out as Marijuana Defense
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Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. — The state Supreme Court ruled Monday that persons charged with possessing marijuana cannot claim as a defense that they needed it for medicinal purposes.
The court reversed a 1984 appeals court ruling that said Michael Tate, a 23-year-old quadriplegic, could argue before a jury that he had no reasonable choice but to smoke marijuana to relieve recurrent muscle spasms. The case will now go to trial.
