Medical marijuana patient contests driving ban [View all]

A Vermont man has challenged a state ruling that denies him the right to drive because he uses medical marijuana.

David Ballard, 55, of Milton, lost his license for 90 days last year after being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, court records show.

The criminal charge was dropped, and Ballard, who suffers from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, successfully completed an alcohol-education program, followed by counseling at the Howard Center.

Through it all, Ballard continued his prescribed use of cannabis, which he says eases pain and anxiety symptoms of his degenerative nerve disease.

“That was approved by the state — and now the state is telling me ‘no,’” Ballard said Friday before his hearing at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.


More: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2017/07/14/medical-marijuana-patient-contests-driving-ban/476994001/



Milton resident David Ballard, right, talks with his lawyer, Norman Blais on Friday outside Vermont Superior Court in Burlington. David Ballard is fighting a Vermont Department of Health decision to withhold his driver's license due to his use of medical marijuana to treat ALS symptoms. Photographed on July 14, 2017. (Photo: JOEL BANNER BAIRD/FREE PRESS)