Anorexia Defense Holds Weight in Florida Pot Case

A 50-year-old Hollywood man was found not guilty of criminal charges Monday after his claims of medical need for marijuana rang true with a South Florida jury.

Jesse Teplicki was arrested two years ago with 46 marijuana plants in his possession, CBS reported. Teplicki has maintained that he needs to use marijuana to control the symptoms of chronic anorexia, the network reported.

Teplicki has suffered from the eating disorder since the age of 9, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Smoking pot, he told jurors, eases the nausea and combats the suppressed appetite so common with the condition.

It seems Teplicki’s testimony struck a chord with jurors who deliberated less than an hour before returning what is being heralded as a groundbreaking verdict, the paper reported.

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Teplicki is the first person in Florida to carry a medical defense for possession of marijuana all the way to a jury trial, NBC reported. He even turned down plea deals to bring his case before the jury.

“I hope this invigorates the State of Florida and all people who are being charged with cannabis to fight,” Teplicki was quoted by the network as saying. “That’s the only way you make change.”

While Teplicki’s defense worked with the Broward County jury, Judge Michael Rothschild warned that the outcome in the Teplicki case doesn’t signal a change in the state’s law, the Sentinel reported. It is illegal to grow, possess or sell marijuana in Florida. Teplicki faced up to five years in prison if he’d been convicted.

A proposed constitutional amendment that would have made marijuana legal for medicinal use in Florida was voted down by a slim margin last November. Supporters of the measure, however, have started a new petition drive with an eye toward getting it on the 2016 ballot.

Meanwhile, a bill has been filed in the Florida House of Representatives that would make recreational use of marijuana legal for people age 21 and over.

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