LOS ANGELES, April 27 –

A federal judge said Monday he will allow a medical marijuana advocate to use synthetic pot if prosecutors cannot prove he is using the legal prescription to mask marijuana use.
(Ed. note: This puts the government in a very odd position. Why would McCormick -- or anyone else -- want to smoke marijuana if they have a prescription for legal Marinol? The government claims that Marinol has all the medical benefit of whole marijuana. It also claims that the THC in Marinol is the only reason that people use marijuana and it is also the reason why marijuana must be illegal as a recreational drug.

There is only one reason why McCormick would want to use whole cannabis: Because it has medical properties not available in Marinol. This is something that the government denies. So there they are demanding that he not be allowed to use Marinol, which has only THC, because it could be a subterfuge to hide his use of whole cannabis, which has substances that are not illegal, but which they claim have no medical value. If you are not confused, read again.)

"I am not a doctor and I do not intend to second-guess the actions of a licensed physician," U.S. District Judge George H. King said at the hearing for 27-year-old Todd McCormick.

On other requests McCormick had Monday, the judge was less equivocal.

Michael had asked King to reconsider a ruling by a magistrate, denying a request to stop testing McCormick for drugs while he awaits trial. That effectively would have allowed the defendant to smoke pot while on bail.

Without giving the reasons for his decision, the judge also refused to reduce the $500,000 bail that actor and hemp activist Woody Harrelson posted for McCormick.

The defendant is awaiting trial on one count of ‘manufacturing’ marijuana for growing 4,116 marijuana plants at his rented Bel-Air mansion. King said Monday the trial probably will be sometime this fall.

McCormick claims he has the right to grow pot under Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative California voters approved in 1996. If convicted, he faces a minimum 10-year sentence.

A provision of his bail is that McCormick refrain from marijuana use, which he says he has smoked since childhood to treat the pain brought on by 10 bouts of histiocytosis-X, a rare form of cancer.

On March 17, U.S. Magistrate Judge James McMahon ordered McCormick to stop using Marinol, which was prescribed by his doctor, and hemp seed oil. He accused the defendant of taking those substances to mask marijuana use.

On April 3, the magistrate ordered McCormick locked up for testing positive for marijuana seven times between March 7 and 18. Twelve days later, King overruled McMahon and freed McCormick pending a May 6 hearing.

The judge may have given a big hint Monday about whether he will allow McCormick’s lawyers to use Proposition 215 as a defense at trial.

Told that lawyers for both sides expect the trial to go about two to three weeks, King replied: "Why would it possibly take two to three weeks to try this case?"

King said he would hold a hearing later in the year to talk about the issues to be presented at trial.

Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, even for medical use. McCormick’s lawyers claim he is being tried in federal court to skirt the state ballot initiative.

(Ed. note: This is about more than Prop. 215. There is the whole matter of a medical necessity defense and introducing McCormick’s medical history to the jury. If the jury is not told about his having had cancer ten times, then he would appear to be just a "big-time marijuana manufacturer," which is obviously what the prosecution wants. A fully un-informed jury.)

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