An Iowa man, with terminal cancer, on trial for growing marijuana for personal use as a cancer patient, was rushed to the hospital during his trial on Monday. Benton Mackenzie used the marijuana to make CBD oil, which is legal in Iowa but only to treat epilepsy, to treat his skin lesions caused by cancer. To add insult to injury, the judge in the case ruled that Mackenzie is not allowed to use the fact that he has cancer as a defense in his trial. From The Huffington Post:
Paramedics took Benton Mackenzie, who was expected to take the stand in his trial in Scott County District Court on Monday, from the courtroom to a local hospital after he complained of extreme pain and hallucinations related to his angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer of the blood vessels which has produced large lesions on Mackenzie's skin.
Despite Mackenzie's deteriorating condition, his trial is expected to be completed Friday, Linda Bowman, the judicial trial court supervisor at the Scott County Clerk's Office, told The Huffington Post. If Mackenzie is found guilty, he faces at least three years in prison -- a punishment that he's said equates to a death sentence.
Iowa's CBD law protects use of the same marijuana-derived oil that Mackenzie uses, but the law's narrow focus on treatment of only "intractable epilepsy" does not apply to or legally protect Mackenzie.
District Court Judge Henry Latham ruled in May that Mackenzie is barred from using his condition as a defense in court during his trial as a reason for why he was growing marijuana, the Associated Press reported.
“I’m not allowed to give proof why I was using,” Mackenzie told the Quad-City Times. “Now, there is no fair trial."
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