Keith Morelli
Fifty-four-year-old Bridget Kirouac was followed home by Martin County sheriff’s deputies just over two years ago after a visit to Mr. Nice Guy Hydroponics. Deputies raided her home and found about 20 marijuana plants, some cannabis tincture and some harvested pot.
She said she needs the marijuana to help get her through days of pain and depression.
Facing 10 years in prison if convicted, Kirouac is scheduled to stand trial in Stuart next week, and her attorney is hopeful he can present a defense claiming the pot was medicinal and that a recommendation from Kirouac’s doctor in Maine is sufficient for her to legally use cannabis here.
“I will show the jury that this is a medical necessity,” said Stuart defense attorney Michael Minardi in a telephone interview Friday, “that she has a right to this treatment.”
Kirouac moved to Florida four years ago, escaping the bitter cold of Maine that intensified the pain she suffered from myriad maladies, including psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, gastritis, herniated cervical, lumbar and sacral discs, plantar fasciitis and bone spurs. She also suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“She has numerous ailments,” Minardi said.
Kirouac is charged with felony cultivation and possession of marijuana.
Minardi represented a defendant in a similar case recently and won with the medical-necessity defense, he said. Kirouac’s case will be the first time he will argue that an out-of-state recommendation by a licensed doctor should be valid in the state of Florida.
Maine adopted a medical marijuana law in 1999 and has more than 1,700 registered patients, according to the state’s website.
Kirouac’s trial is expected to last about a week, Minardi said.
