Multiple Sclerosis Patient Faces Jail Term for Marijuana Use

MEDICAL MARIJUANA January 1993

A 45-year-old Missouri man faces a possible jail term after law enforcement authorities confiscated three marijuana plants he was growing to treat muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis (Peter Hernon, "Medicinal Marijuana A Rising Problem: Drug Arrests Anger Ozarks Man With MS," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/6/92, C1).

Gary Gregurich has been arrested twice within the last two years for cultivating marijuana for personal use. A multiple sclerosis sufferer, Gregurich openly admits he has used marijuana for its medicinal value in controlling MS associated muscle spasm. Since his arrest, he has employed the drug Baclafen, which he said does not work as well for him as marijuana.

Gregurich lives in Lecoma, Missouri, a town with a population of about 50 people, and survives on $700 per month in Social Security disability payments. If convicted of felony cultivation based on the seizure of three plants, he could receive 15 years in prison.