Charges have been dropped against the Iraq war veteran who was arrested for growing medical cannabis. Police had found plants inside his Pasco County home, but Mathew Young said he had been given false information from an attorney. “I really to this day don’t believe I did anything wrong,” Young said.
Young said medical cannabis has been one of the only effective reliefs from the problems he’s faced since returning from combat. “It wasn’t until I tried cannabis that everything turned around,” Young said. “I could start functioning and start having a day. You have to have a day before you can start a life.”
The State Attorney’s Office decided to drop the charge against Young saying he is “a cooperating witness in an on-going investigation.”
Young’s attorney, Steve Gearhart, calls it “justice.”
Young said he’d like to move to a state where medical cannabis is legal, but right now he’s tied down with legal bills. Additionally, since his medicine was confiscated by the state, Young’s health has deteriorated.
“The reality and the prognosis is not all that positive for me,” he said. “In 8 months, I’m back in a wheelchair. Where am I going to be in 12 months?”