Those are side effects of the prescription drugs the former Ocean Shores resident was given to treat Crohn's Disease, an incurable condition that destroys the intestines and causes severe cramping, diarrhea, nutritional deficiencies and a wide range of other problems.

He says he's been able to manage the symptoms fairly well for the last 29 years - since he was in college and a doctor suggested that smoking marijuana might give him some relief. That all changed last November when the Grays Harbor Drug Task Force busted him.

Buckner says he didn't think he was breaking the law, since Washington voters approved Initiative 692 in 1998 permitting doctors to "recommend" the use of medical marijuana. In 2001, he got a note from a clinic saying that marijuana may be beneficial for him to use.

"For the first time in my life, I wasn't going to feel like a criminal," Buckner said.

But that is exactly how investigators and prosecutors see him. Buckner was charged with manufacturing marijuana and possessing one gram of illegal psilocybin mushrooms. Trial is set for May 29, at Grays Harbor Superior Court.

Law enforcement officials say Buckner was growing a lot more marijuana than he needed for his personal use.

"He had enough marijuana to supply the City of Ocean Shores and that's not an exaggeration," said Sgt. Dallas Hensley of the Grays Harbor Drug Task Force.

Buckner says he smoked a lot of pot - about 8 to 10 grams a day - a joint an hour. He grew it in the garage of the two - bedroom bungalow where he lived with his dog, Chewbacca.

"After a while it loses its euphoric feeling," he said. "When you smoke it a lot, you don't get high anymore. And that's what's good, because it helps the symptoms of the disease and I can still function and work."

He says he also supplied a friend in Sequim with 8 or so grams a day. He says they both had medical recommendations to use pot and believed they were following the law to the letter. The county Prosecutor's Office sees it differently.

Officers seized 53 marijuana plants, 29 of which were mature enough that officers estimated the plants would net $2,000 each on the street. A pound of processed marijuana was found inside the home as well as two scales, packaging materials and $10,000 in hundred dollar bills, court papers say.

Buckner says he weighed his own doses. The money in his safe was "his life savings," not from dealing drugs, but from working from his home as a Web designer and doing some promotional work for a company in Seattle where he designed ads, brochures and more.

Since his arrest, he has been evicted and has moved to Olympia. A vehicle that was seized by police as "evidence" nearly four months ago was just returned.

He says his health has taken a turn for the worse since he doesn't have his pot. And because of that, his work has suffered, he said.

His weight has dropped from 120 to 112 pounds, he said.

"It has been very tough," Buckner said. "Even if I do win this trial, it will take years for me to recover financially."

Grays Harbor Prosecutor Stew Menefee and deputy prosecutor William Leraas say that Buckner was not in line with the law.

Leraas has filed a motion asking the court to not allow Buckner to present his medical marijuana defense during trial.

"If I can't tell my side of the story to the jury, well then that wouldn't be a fair trial," Buckner said.

Leraas says Buckner shouldn't be allowed to use the defense because he didn't have proper authorization from a medical doctor as described by the law. The note Buckner cites was vague and didn't meet the legal criteria, Leraas said.

In addition, the deputy prosecutor says that at the time of the arrest, Buckner didn't have the proper documentation he needed authorizing him to distribute the drug to the Sequim man.

Buckner says he thought the medical recommendation that reads: "This letter is to confirm that I support Mr. Buckner's use of marijuana for treatment of Crohn's Disease not relieved by standard treatments," satisfied legal requirements. It was written by a physician's assistant on Aug. 1, 2001, and signed by a doctor.

He also has a letter from a naturopath recommending that he use marijuana and an herbal tea to relieve the symptoms.

The state law doesn't recognize recommendations from naturopathic doctors.

Although I - 692 allows doctors to "recommend" marijuana for some ailments, they cannot prescribe the drug or dosage and pharmacies cannot distribute it because federal laws are still in effect banning the drug.

Almost everyone agrees that the law is vague. It says a patient shouldn't have "more than a 60 - day supply" although it doesn't define what that amount is.

A recent state Court of Appeals ruling earlier this month upheld a man's conviction in Stevens County because there was no evidence on record concerning how much pot he needed, so there was no way to know what constituted a 60 - day supply.

The appeals court suggested that doctors begin mentioning specific amounts of marijuana. In the Eastern Washington case, 15 plants were seized.

Buckner's medical recommendations didn't specify a dosage amount either. Buckner believes doctors shy away from suggesting an amount because that would be like issuing a prescription - and that would be illegal.

When I - 692 was approved by voters, it was one of the "best times in my life" Buckner said. Instead of dealing with "street people" and paying about $15,000 to get pot from dealers every year, he just started growing it himself. The self - employed Web site and T - shirt designer said his life was really going good. He planned on living in Ocean Shores - maybe buying a home of his own there.

When he was arrested, officials told him that they didn't want his "type" in their community, making him feel like a "scumbag drug dealer," he said.

Buckner didn't try to hide his grow operation or steal power from the PUD, he just paid the monthly $300 - plus electricity bills.

He said he was shocked when his quiet home was surrounded by officers and he was pulled from his vehicle and treated like a drug dealer.

He was on his way to walk his dog on the beach one November afternoon when officers pulled him over, handcuffed him and took him to jail.

"I tried to tell them it was medical marijuana and that I was very sick, but they wouldn't listen and just kept reading me my rights," Buckner said. "Then they handcuffed me; I was so upset, I fainted.

"They said I was faking it," he added. "I wasn't."

He spent a night in jail and Chewbacca went to the pound. He thought that when officials saw his letters from doctors that the charges would be dropped - but they weren't.

Another attorney he worked with told him to plead guilty, but he fired him and hired Aberdeen's Erik Kupka.

"I'm not going to admit to doing something wrong I don't think I did," Buckner said. "And when a jury hears my story, and my doctors' I think they will understand."

But Grays Harbor Prosecutor Menefee disagrees and says the trial shouldn't center around "why" Buckner was taking marijuana, but rather was his marijuana use and cultivation consistent with I - 692.

No one is disputing the man is sick, and court records contain documentation that he suffers from the disease.

But defense attorney Kupka says it's not his client's fault that the law designed to help people like Buckner is not clearly written.

"If prosecutors want to fight the war on drugs, then they need to focus their attention on hardened criminals not helpless and dying people like Mr. Buckner," Kupka said. "This case is no different than a high school bully beating up on a helpless grade schooler."

Sgt. Hensley says the law is causing law enforcement officials headaches as well. He says the "medical marijuana" alibi is becoming more and more common during drug busts. Because the law is so unclear, officials investigate and forward the findings to the Prosecutor's Office.

"I can't make decisions in the field if the Legislature and scores of attorneys can't come up with an answer," Hensley said. "The law needs to be clarified."

Kupka believes the results of this trial will be watched by lawmakers and other officials around the state.

"This case has far - reaching implications beyond the prosecution of Mr. Buckner," he said. "It is a misguided attack on the terminally ill and dying patients who have a legal and viable option to alleviate the devastating effects of their disease."

Source: Daily World, The (WA)
Author: Lisa Patterson -- Daily World Writer
Published: March 24, 2002
Copyright: 2002 The Daily World
Website: http://www.dailyworld.com/
Contact: letters@thedailyworld.com

Related Articles & Web Sites:

Washington Citizens For Medical Rights
http://www.eventure.com/i692/

Medical Marijuana Information Links
http://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htm

Ruling Puts Limit on Growing Medical Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12276.shtml

Seattle Police Crack Down on Medical-Pot Purveyor
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10489.shtml

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