She is 71 years old, a great-grandmother - hardly the type of person you would expect to see in Bronx Criminal Court to answer charges of buying two dime bags of pot.

Yet at the appointed time today, Barbara Jackson will make her way to the courthouse, a colorectal cancer survivor ready to plead her case.

"I smoke it to live," the feisty granny told the Daily News. "I don't think I should have been arrested."

Jackson said she started smoking the green, leafy drug eight years ago - a year after being diagnosed with cancer - to restore her appetite after chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"After cancer treatments, I was very sick," she said. "I couldn't eat and could not stand the smell of food."

Even though her cancer is in remission, she lost her appetite, Jackson said.

On March 13, she set out to find some more of the illegal drug she has grown dependent on. She found some close to her house on E.179th St. and began walking down Walton Ave.

Plainclothes cops suddenly descended on her and found the two bags of marijuana on her.

"I am looking for a dismissal in the interest of justice," said Ron Kuby, one of two lawyers representing Jackson. "I would hope the Bronx district attorney's office has more important cases than prosecuting a great-granny for medicinal marijuana."

After her arrest, Jackson was handcuffed and brought to jail. She was taken to the 46th Precinct stationhouse, photographed, fingerprinted and issued a desk appearance ticket that she must answer today.

Her other lawyer, David Pressman, said it's heartbreaking to see a senior citizen who was "just trying to survive" handcuffed and held in police custody for five hours.

Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney's office, said his office is not aware of the case because it hasn't come into the the DA's office.

Jackson hopes to get a chance to tell her story.

She weighed 99 pounds when she entered Lincoln Hospital in 1998. After surgery and treatments she lost even more weight. Jackson said her doctor prescribed an appetite enhancer, but it made her sick.

"The medicine gave me a terrible headache," said Jackson, who was raising three great-grandchildren at the time. "I was very weak and sick after treatments. I had diarrhea and was vomiting all the time.

"The smell of food made me sick and I was nauseous," she said. "The marijuana calmed me down and gave me back my appetite. My taste buds are gone, but the marijuana helps me get the food down."

Jackson said she puffed marijuana twice a day in the privacy of her home. Jackson, who now weighs 124 pounds, credits the marijuana with saving her life.

"The marijuana has kept me alive; I wouldn't be here if I didn't smoke," Jackson said. "I know it's illegal, but I did what I had to do to make myself comfortable and restore my quality of life."

Newshawk: a typical tabloid press headline
Pubdate: Mon, 30 Apr 2007
Source: New York Daily News (NY)
Copyright: 2007 Daily News, L.P.
Contact: voicers@edit.nydailynews.com
Website: http://www.nydailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/295
Author: Chrisena Coleman, Daily News Staff Writer
Note: From MAP: An Associated Press wire report states "(AP) -- The Bronx district attorney has decided not to prosecute a 71-year-old grandmother busted for possession of marijuana. DA Robert Johnson says they did not have all the supporting documents needed, so Barbara Jackson was let go Monday morning."