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I am giving my last update for the Zoretic trial. Dee Dee and I appeared in court for our last time today.
We appeared in the court of Margaret Russo in Ohio's Cuyahoga County Court house at 9:00 am this morning. Shortly after our attorneys Joseph Jacobs and public defender Patricia Windham arrived, we were notified that the judge was moving forward with a trial today and had denied all motions made for even a 1 or 2 day continuance. Shortly after Joseph Jacobs notified us that we were going to have the motion heard on suppression of the evidence before, but we would soon be selecting jurors. We were then brought into the courtroom where the judge proceeded to tear into the prosecution and defense attorneys about the evidence. After the lengthy back and forth about the evidence, Joseph Jacobs informed us that they (the prosecution) wanted to plea all 3rd and 5th degree felony charges down to one 1st degree misdemeanor. They also guaranteed that neither one of us would receive any kind of probation, but we would both be subject to fines and court costs. After the statements made by Joe Jacobs, myself, Patricia Windham, and Deirdre Zoretic, the judge imposed a fine of $50.00 and court costs of $50.00 on myself, and no fines or court costs for Dee Dee. We both have our driving privileges revoked, with the exception of work and other necessities for 6 months. We were very happy with this decision and would like to thank everyone involved in any way that helped us along the way.
Sincerely,
Joe Zoretic
The Zoretic case (pending medical marijuana case) was supposed to take place on August 8th, but has been postponed by the prosecution and is now to take place on October 3rd, 2005. A motion to reweigh the evidence was also granted. “I am confident that there was less than the 308 grams than the prosecution claims” said Joseph Zoretic, codefendant in the case and executive director of The Ohio Patient Action Network. The case began on February 22 nd, when police visited the Zoretic home. After spotting a glass pipe, the Zoretic’s, Deirdre and Joseph were arrested, and after refusing to consent to a search, a warrant was obtained to search their home. After the warrant was issued, the police discovered a wardrobe cabinet that was converted to a small grow space for medical marijuana. Joseph Zoretic was placed into custody and given a $20,000 bond while his wife Deirdre, a medical marijuana patient, was released on a personal bond. “They obviously did not want to take care of my wife’s disease in jail” said Joseph Zoretic. Deirdre Zoretic suffers from a disease called RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) that affects the right side of her body and causes frequent pain and muscle spasms. After the case made it to Cuyahoga County Court, the Zoretic’s were placed on court supervised release, and are subject to weekly urine testing. Deirdre Zoretic started to decline rapidly health wise and put on Marinol by her physician. “My doctor, who also supported my use of cannabis, was shocked when seeing my decline after just a couple of weeks without my medication” said Deirdre. “I am also on high doses of opiate pain medication, but nothing works like cannabis does for my disease. It works on almost every symptom I experience and pain killers only take care of the pain to a certain degree.” Deirdre’s symptoms include spasms and loss of coordination as well as pain. She also suffers from nausea associated with the use of narcotic pain relievers. “My doctor immediately put me on Marinol (a synthetic form of THC) after seeing my decline. Although it doesn’t work as well as whole cannabis, it is better than being completely off of marijuana.” “I just want to get past this case and continue our fight for medical marijuana in Ohio” said Joseph Zoretic. “It has caused us great stress and been a drain on our already limited income. I hope that this case moves forward on October 3rd so we can concentrate on our activism. We put a target on our back and only four days after The Ohio Medical Marijuana Act (SB74) was introduced, we were arrested.” Joseph goes on to say that “I don’t think this was a normal arrest in any sense. They took our computer and printer and it seemed as if they were trying to silence us from speaking up about medical marijuana. I guess they really don’t know us very well because this arrest has just made us all the more focused and committed to the cause.”
(Columbus, OH) On Monday, August 8, 2005 ( ed.: continued to Oct. 3, 9 a.m.), the Ohio medical marijuana trial of the decade will be held in Cuyahoga County Court. Joseph and Deirdre (Joe and Dee Dee) Zoretic will be tried on felony marijuana cultivation charges. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo, a Democrat, will preside. Summary details about this case: What: Jury trial on felony (medical) marijuana charges Who: Joe & Deirdre (Dee Dee) Zoretic When: Monday, August 8, 2005 - continued to October 3, 9 a.m.Where: Court of Common Pleas for Cuyahoga County, 1300 Ontario Street, Cleveland, OH 44111 Case #: 46477 Charges: (Five total) Cultivation of marijuana (fifth degree felony), drug trafficking w/ juvenile specification (fourth degree felony), possession of drugs (fifth degree felony), endangering children (fifth degree felony), possessing criminal tools (fifth degree felony) Judge: Nancy Margaret Russo, Democrat
What Happened?: On Monday, February 21, 2005, Lakewood Detectives visited the Lakewood, Ohio, home of Joe and Dee Dee Zoretic allegedly in response to an earlier call by Mrs. Zoretic to a local social service agency. After claiming to smell what they thought to be marijuana, the Zoretics were asked to consent to a search, which they refused. Police then proceeded to conduct a full and destructive search of the home. They reportedly found several live plants, dried cannabis, paraphernalia, and growing equipment.
The couple was subsequently arrested and charged with five counts of felony possession and cultivation of marijuana. Mrs. Zoretic was immediately released from custody due to her medical condition. Mr. Zoretic, however, was transported to the Cuyahoga County jail where he remained for almost a week. The couple was placed on probation with drug testing a condition of release prior to trial.
When they met with their probation officer on June 1, 2005, Mr. Zoretic was informed that he had tested positive for metabolites of marijuana. However, Mr. Zoretic, possessed a physician's prescription for high dose ibuprofen, which is known to cause false positives on drug tests.
Based on the failed test, he was returned to the Cuyahoga County Jail that day, but was released on Wednesday, June 15, as a compassionate act on the part of Judge Russo who had received many letters describing the Zoretic's dire situation, some from political allies.
Trial for the couple, who will appear together in court, has been rescheduled for Monday morning, August 8, 2005.
Who Are the Zoretics?: Joe and Dee Dee Zoretic have become well-known, high profile medical marijuana activists. Their activism stems from a simple slip on salad dressing.
While working as a waitress, Mrs. Zoretic slipped on spilled salad dressing, fell, and injured her right arm. After a few weeks in a cast and ever-increasing pain, she demanded that her physician remove the cast, revealing the onslaught of atrophy. Narcotic painkillers had become ineffective and ceased to control the searing pain. She was quickly losing use of her right hand, but she soon had a diagnosis: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.
RSD is characterized as a never-ending cycle of the Fight or Flight Syndrome of the central nervous system. In the process, RSD moves from the point of origin - Mrs. Zoretic's right arm - destroying all tissue in its path. RSD is incurable, incapacitating, and unstoppable.
Searching the Internet about RSD, Mrs. Zoretic ran across the 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine Report, which included a written statement from a man who provided testimony about his RSD and use of medical marijuana to manage it. This began a legacy of activism that continues today.
Active in the Lakewood Democratic Club, the Zoretics worked for both the Kucinich-for-President and the Kerry-for-President campaigns. Mrs. Zoretic is a certified speaker for the ACLU Cleveland's Speakers Bureau.What is Senate Bill 74?: Only four days before the Zoretics were arrested, Ohio Senator Robert Hagan (D-33) introduced the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act, now called SB 74. This bill would modify various sections of the Ohio Revised Code to regulate the medical use of marijuana under the direction of a patient's physician. It would establish a patient registry with the Ohio Department of Health and mandate that a patient application and identification process be instituted to identify authorized patients to law enforcement personnel.
It is not known whether the Zoretic's arrest and prosecution are politically-motivated.
Why is this Case Important?: This case contains a few details that are similar to the recently-decided Gonzales (formerly Ashcroft) vs. Raich case. The marijuana in the Zoretic case was grown in the home and never left it. No money changed hands. No other drugs were involved.
As Justice Stevens wrote in his majority opinion in the Raich case, "The case is made difficult by respondents' strong arguments that they will suffer irreparable harm because, despite a congressional finding to the contrary, marijuana does have valid therapeutic purposes." This statement affirms marijuana's medicinal value in the eyes for the highest court in the land and should reflect in the disposition of the Zoretic case.
Further, the Zoretic case dispels the myth that medical marijuana patients are rarely arrested or suffer any sanctions as a result of their chosen medicine. In fact, Mr. Zoretic has spent almost one month in the Cuyahoga County Jail - a week right after his arrest and two weeks after failing a drug test.
The U.S. prison system has come under increasing criticism for overcrowding. In fact, according to a May 5, 2005, story by News Channel 5 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Jails have a rated capacity of 1,750 with a current inmate population of nearly 2,000. At a per inmate cost of about $56.00 per day, Cuyahoga County has already spent almost $1,200 to incarcerate Mr. Zoretic for a failed drug test, although he had a physician's prescription for high-dose ibuprofen which is known to cause false positives.
Adding in police and prosecutorial time, attorney fees, and lost wages (and the taxes that accrue from them), to name only a few costs, this case will likely cost the citizens of Ohio tens of thousands of dollars at a time of burgeoning fiscal deficits. Worse, the Zoretic family now finds itself on the verge of financial ruin, with chronic illness a remaining specter in their lives.
 The Zoretics attending the 2005 Ohio Democratic Party Dinner |
