TALLAHASSEE -- In dramatic testimony, two patients who treat their debilitating diseases with marijuana testified in court Wednesday that although they qualify to receive the drug legally, they are alive only because they break the law and smoke it.
Diana Dodson of Levy County, who has HIV and neuropathy, and Cathy Jordan of Manatee County, who has Lou Gehrig's disease, urged Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers to overturn the state's ban on smoking medical marijuana, arguing that the forms the state allows don't do them any good.
"In '86, I was given three to five years to live and I'm still here,'' said Jordan, 68, seated in a wheelchair in the front of the court, her voice scratchy and weak from her ailment.
