>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <003b01bf1752$f0efaea0$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 14:19:18 -0700 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Hello. > >A kind angel has donated the use of a top-rate public relations agency to >spread the word about my case. What's the use of being a posterboy if nobody >has your poster? > >Here is their first release. I think you will find the motion fascinating >reading--not too legal, and full of great facts >(http://www.petertrial.com/motion) > >Enjoy, > >Peter > >P.S. I've been offline for the past week working on this motion with my >lawyer. Please excuse me if I owe you an e-mail reply. > >========= > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: >October 12, 1999 >Contact: Rachel Swain, Tommy McDonald, Erin Malec: 415-255-1946 >For more information visit: www.petertrial.com > >New Appeal to Go Before Ninth Circuit Could Mean Life or Death for Medical >Marijuana Defendant with AIDS > >Appeal Invokes Recent Ninth Circuit Ruling; Argues Marijuana is "Medical >Necessity" for Critically-Ill Patient Peter McWilliams > >Calif. Attorney General Bill Lockyer Asks Janet Reno to Let Landmark Ruling >on Medical Necessity Stand > >SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Weeks after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals >ruled that medical necessity arguments should be heard in the federal suit >against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, attorneys for >critically-ill AIDS patient Peter McWilliams will ask the Ninth Circuit to >reverse a U.S. District Court decision that bars McWilliams from using >medical marijuana while he awaits trial on federal marijuana charges. In >the appeal, to be filed Thursday October 14, attorneys argue that without >medical marijuana, McWilliams could die before his case goes to trial. > >If the appeal is granted, McWilliams would become the first person to ever >use medical marijuana with the approval of a federal court. > >McWilliams, an author and publisher who has AIDS and is a cancer survivor, >was barred from smoking medical marijuana as a condition for his release on >bail after his 1998 arrest for an alleged conspiracy to cultivate and >distribute marijuana. The ban was upheld by U.S. District Court Judge >George King, and McWilliams now submits to random urine tests. In Limine >hearings in the trial of McWilliams and his co-defendants, including >medical marijuana patient and researcher Todd McCormick, will take place in >Los Angeles on October 18, and the trial is expected to begin November 16. > >"I am deeply concerned that if Peter is not permitted to use medical >marijuana, he may not make it to trial, let alone through trial," said >Thomas Ballanco, McWilliams' attorney. "If there was ever a clear-cut case >of medical necessity, this is it. For Peter McWilliams, medical marijuana >equals life." > >Before his arrest, McWilliams smoked medical marijuana as an anti-nausea >medication to keep down his combination therapies that keep the AIDS virus >under control. Since he stopped using medical marijuana, McWilliams has >lost 30 pounds, his viral load has shot up to a dangerous level of 250,000 >and his immune system has become highly compromised, according to his >physician, Daniel Bowers, M.D. Although his cancer is currently in >remission, a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or another secondary >infection could kill him at any time, says Bowers. McWilliams is confined >to a wheelchair and rarely leaves his home in Laurel Canyon, CA. > >McWilliams now uses the synthetic THC compound Marinol to control his >vomiting - a therapy that he says enables him to digest only one third of >his treatments but leaves him feeling 'stoned' and unable to work. Medical >marijuana, according to McWilliams, was 100 percent effective as an >anti-emetic, and was not debilitating. > >On September 13, 1999, a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel >unanimously ruled that "medical necessity" can be a viable defense for >people accused of breaking federal marijuana laws. The panel ordered U.S. >District Court Judge Charles Breyer to take into account evidence that some >patients need marijuana to treat debilitating and life-threatening ailments >in the federal lawsuit against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative. > >California Attorney General Bill Lockyer stepped in last week to urge >federal authorities to let this landmark ruling stand. In an October 6 >letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Lockyer wrote: "I ask that you >consider foregoing the filing of a petition for rehearing and allow the >matter to proceed back to the District Court for further proceedings. As >you know, the voters in my state have endorsed the medicinal use of >marijuana and the court's decision holding that a citizen may present >evidence that use of marijuana, under certain narrow conditions, may be a >lawful exception to the federal drug laws is consistent with that >expression of their will." > >Since his election in November 1998, Lockyer has spearheaded statewide >efforts to establish guidelines for the implementation of California's >Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215). Ironically, although a >federally-funded March 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine at the >National Academy of Sciences found that marijuana does have medicinal >benefits, marijuana is still classified under federal law as a Schedule I >drug - a highly dangerous substance with no medicinal qualities. > >McWilliams, 50, was arrested in 1998 by federal agents on charges that he >financed the cultivation of over 6,000 marijuana plants to sell to >marijuana clubs. McWilliams, the author of five best-selling books, >contends that his only role in the alleged conspiracy was paying a book >advance to McCormick, whom McWilliams had commissioned to write two books >on medical marijuana. McWilliams, who says he avoided all illegal drugs >until, as a last resort, he obtained his doctor's consent to try medical >marijuana, says he did grow medical marijuana for his own personal use. > >### > > >Rachel Swain >Senior Publicist >Communication Works (415/255-1946) > > >=========== > >Complete motion at http://petertrial.com/motion > >Lockyer letter to Reno at http://petertrial.com/lockyer > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------