Ruling Stands In Case Of NJ MS Patient Caught With Marijuana
TRENTON, NJ(AP) -- New Jersey medical marijuana advocates are decrying the state Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal of a multiple sclerosis patient who was busted for pot possession.
The court recently declined to hear John Ray Wilson's case, letting stand a lower-court ruling and his five-year prison sentence.
Wilson claimed a lower-court judge erred when he wouldn't let him tell a jury that he was using the marijuana he was growing at his Franklin Township (Somerset County) home to treat his disease.
An appeals court ruled last July that there is no exception that would let Wilson off the legal hook.
Under a state law, multiple sclerosis patients can qualify to use cannabis. But no legal marijuana dispensaries are operating yet in New Jersey.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
