Jury to decide case of medical marijuana grower

Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

A judge ruled Wednesday it would be up to a jury to decide whether a 34-year-old licensed medical marijuana user was acting within his rights when he grew and sold the drug to about 50 other licensed users.

District Judge John McGroarty made the ruling and scheduled a Feb. 20, 2006, trial date for Pierre Werner. Police and prosecutors allege Werner is a drug dealer.

Werner operates Primary Caregivers and Consultants, a company that he says helps severely ill people fill out paperwork, find a doctor and grow the marijuana they need.

Werner is charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell because police found 34 mature and 11 premature marijuana plants at his home. Authorities also said they found two ounces of the illegal weed in sandwich baggies inside Werner's garage.

Under Nevada law, in order to escape criminal liability, a person licensed to use marijuana medically is allowed only possess, deliver or produce only one ounce of usable marijuana, three mature marijuana plants and four immature marijuana plants at a time.

Werner's attorney, Ryan Mortier, unsuccessfully argued the case should be dismissed because Werner was given authorization to grow and possess more marijuana than the statute allows due to a decision made by Werner's doctor to allow him to grow between 50 to 99 plants at a time.

Prosecutors countered that under state law no one has the authority to exceed the law as stated on the books. They point out that state law makes no exception for the amount one person grows or possesses even if they are selling the drug to other licensed users.

Under Nevada Revised Statutes 453A, only those suffering from a "chronic or debilitating medical condition" can use marijuana for what ails them and be exempt from prosecution for certain acts involving marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

According to the statute, AIDS, cancer and glaucoma meet the burden required for those seeking to be medically licensed users of the drug.

Werner said he qualifies for the license because he suffers from "severe nausea" which he contends stems from his bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug currently has no affect on licensed Nevadan medical marijuana users unless they are prosecuted federally.