Gupta intends to use the marijuana for medical purposes.
By Raif Karerat
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Indian American physician Dr. Suresh Gupta, who has been in the past been tried and found not guilty of gross sexual imposition, has declared he plans to devote 90 percent of his property in Pataskala, Ohio to cultivating cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Gupta is one of a number of wealthy individuals who are investing in the for-profit ResponsibleOhio marijuana-legalization plan in the hopes of multiplying their money on a grand scale.
“We look forward to providing much-needed medical marijuana for people with debilitating diseases,” he said, adding that the cannabis could be used by cancer patients or those with Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Gupta is a 1980 graduate of a medical college in India and has been in medical practices in Ohio since 1993.
In 2008, four former patients testified that Gupta fondled them during examinations or medical procedures, some involving injections. The events are alleged to have occurred between August 2001 and December 2004.
According to WHIO, defense attorneys questioned the motivations of the former patients. One of the alleged victims filed a $5 million lawsuit against Gupta, which she dismissed in July 2006. Gupta’s attorneys said two others clashed with Gupta after he caught them violating their narcotics agreements with Gupta’s practice, and the fourth unsuccessfully sought a letter from Gupta stating that she could not work, because she wanted to avoid a child support obligation.
While Gupta has certainly been named in several civil malpractice suits but has not lost any cases or paid damages, ResponsibleOhio officials said.
Other investors in the ResponsibleOhio plan include legendary basketball player Oscar Robertson, entertainer Nick Lachey, two great-great-grandnephews of President William Howard Taft.
The 24 known investors bought into a plan establishing 10 exclusive commercial cannabis-growing sites across the state, reported the Columbus Dispatch.
If marijuana legalization is approved by voters in the upcoming Nov. 3 election, the investors will spend hundreds of millions to construct enclosed structures to grow cannabis for a business estimated by ResponsibleOhio to generate $1 billion a year, which would be taxed, with proceeds going primarily to local governments.