>X-Sender: markg@mapinc.org >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.0.58 >Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 12:45:18 -0800 >To: >From: "Mark Greer" >From: "CRRH mailing list" >Subject: ALERT: McWilliams Not Allowed To Use Medical Defense >Sender: >Reply-To: >Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm >X-Mozilla-Status: c001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > >DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 135 Sunday November 7. 1999 > >McWilliams Not Allowed To Use Medical Defense > >TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL >ADDRESS PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS FOCUS ALERT > >------- >PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE >------- > >DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 135 Sunday November 7. 1999 > >McWilliams Not Allowed To Use Medical Defense > >In 1996 California voters approved a measure to allow the use of medical >marijuana. Since then, voters in several other states have done the same. >On Friday a federal judge again exhibited the federal government's complete >disregard for the will of the people on this issue by ruling that medical >marijuana users Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick will not be allowed to >use a medical defense during their upcoming trials for growing the >life-saving medicine. > >Even though the trial hasn't even started, the judge's ruling is an >effective death sentence for Peter, who suffers from AIDS and cancer. "I >now face ten mandatory years in federal prison. I will die there. My life >is over because I tried to save my life doing something my doctor >recommended in a state where it is legal. If it happened to me, it can >happen to anyone," said Peter in a press release. (For more specifics about >the case, visit Peter's website at http://www.petertrial.com) > >The story is now receiving more coverage from the New York Times (below) as >well as other papers. Please write a letter to the NYT, or the LA Times, to >speak out about this cruel and unjust action by the federal government. You >may also want to try and contact President Clinton via an online chat >session Monday night to ask why he and his administration refuse to feel >the pain of medical marijuana users. > > WRITE A LETTER TODAY > > It's not what others do it's what YOU do > >*************************************************************************** > >PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter, >Phone, fax etc.) > >Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the Sent LTE list >at sentlte@mapinc.org If >you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to MGreer@mapinc.org >Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn rom >your efforts and be motivated to follow suit. > >This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our impact and >effectiveness. > >************************************************************************** > >CONTACT INFO > >Source: New York Times (NY) >Contact: letters@nytimes.com > >EXTRA CREDIT > >Please also send a separate copy of your letter to the Los Angeles Times, >which ran a shorter story (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1204.a11.html). > >Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) >Contact: letters@latimes.com > >EXTRA EXTRA CREDIT > >President Clinton will be taking questions during an internet forum Monday >night. Please ask the president why his administration continues its cruel >persecution of medical marijuana patients like Peter McWilliams and Todd >McCormick even though voters have approved medical marijuana in every state >where the issue has been raised. > >The Clinton event is scheduled to being at 7 p.m. EST Monday. The Internet >address is http://townhallmeeting.excite.com. > >*************************************************************************** > >Pubdate: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 >Source: New York Times (NY) >Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company >Contact: letters@nytimes.com >Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ >Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ >Related: Websites: http://www.petertrial.com/ >http://MarijuanaMagazine.com/ >http://McWilliams.com/ > >LOS ANGELES DRUG CASE BARS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEFENSE > >LOS ANGELES -- In a July 1997 raid, police officers and federal agents >here found more than 4,000 marijuana plants in a Bel-Air mansion known >as the castle, near the home of Ronald Reagan, whose administration >created the "zero tolerance" approach to illegal drugs. > >With a trial scheduled to begin Nov. 16, the case has turned into a >test of judicial tolerance for a defense strategy based on marijuana's >medical uses. > >Two defendants, Todd McCormick and Peter McWilliams, advocate >legalizing marijuana for medical use and have used it to treat their >own ailments: McCormick for pain from cancer treatments that fused >several of his vertebrae, and McWilliams for nausea from drugs he >takes to treat AIDS. > >Saying the plants were for personal use and research on a book about >medical marijuana, they contend their actions were legal under >Proposition 215, the ballot measure approved by California voters in >1996 allowing patients to smoke marijuana with a doctor's >recommendation. > >Federal prosecutors, however, sought and received an order from a >federal judge barring the defendants from telling the jury that side >of the story, even offering to drop some of the counts against them to >keep those issues out of the courtroom. > >In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge George King prohibited the >defendants from making any reference to Proposition 215, the purported >medical benefits of marijuana or even the federal government's own >experimental program, now closed, providing marijuana to patients. > >The defendants say they are not being allowed to defend themselves. >"I'm devastated," McWilliams said in an interview on Friday. "I can't >even present my case to the jury. We just have to sit there and listen >to the evidence, and we've already admitted everything. Obviously, the >federal government is stonewalling any discussion of medical marijuana >in any forum." > >McWilliams, a best-selling self-help author, McCormick, who founded a >club that distributes marijuana for medical purposes, and another >defendant, Aleksandra Evanguelidi, were among nine people charged with >conspiring to grow and sell marijuana. They face minimum prison >sentences of 10 years if convicted. Three other defendants have >pleaded guilty. > >In court filings, prosecutors have said the medical issues are >irrelevant to the charges, and if allowed into evidence, "will serve >only to confuse and mislead the jury." Further, they maintain that if >the defendants want to change the government's position on marijuana, >they should petition the Drug Enforcement Administration. > >"Whether the defendants like it or not, the proper challenge is >through the regulatory process," Mary Fulginiti, a prosecutor, said in >court last month. > >The trial comes at a time of increasing conflict in America's >relationship with marijuana. On Tuesday, voters in Maine approved an >initiative allowing medical use, joining six Western states. A report >commissioned by the Clinton administration concluded earlier this year >that marijuana's active ingredients were useful in treating pain and >nausea, though the benefits were limited by the smoke's toxic effects. > >And in September, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a >cannabis club in Oakland to resume providing marijuana to patients, in >the face of an injunction from the Clinton administration. > >Yet marijuana remains classified by Congress as a Schedule I >controlled substance, putting it in the company of heroin and LSD. >That raised a central question: whether the defendants could assert a >"medical necessity defense," maintaining that they broke the law >because their health required it. > >Prosecutors contended that marijuana's Schedule I status precluded >such an argument, because it legally defined the drug as having no >legitimate use. But defense lawyers maintained that the appeals court >decision in the Oakland case opened the door to such a defense. > >Federal prosecutors are so intent on keeping medical issues out of the >courtroom in the case that they agreed to dismiss charges of intent to >distribute if the judge barred the medical-necessity defense. Under >the law, the defendants could have been allowed to assert that >Proposition 215 and their medical conditions contributed to their >"state of mind" if they were prosecuted on the intent charges. But >with manufacturing charges, state of mind is not relevant. > >In his ruling, King said the medical-necessity defense would be >unavailable to the defendants because allowing them to use it would >explicitly contradict a congressional determination. Judge King found >that the appeals court ruling in Oakland did not directly address the >issue, and he rejected admission of Proposition 215 and medical >benefits of marijuana because the government agreed to limit its case >to simple manufacturing charges. > >The number of marijuana plants, which rose to more than 6,000 after >the discovery of other growing sites, has led to charges that the >defendants sought to reap profits by selling to cannabis clubs, an >enterprise not sanctioned by Proposition 215, which allows possession >in "personal use amounts." > >According to court documents, the two men signed a detailed agreement >on financing and managing cultivation sites, distribution plans and >profit sharing. McWilliams is accused of approaching an employee of a >cannabis club with an offer to sell it marijuana, saying that he >wanted to become the "Bill Gates of medical marijuana." > >The case has become a celebrated one with legalization advocates. The >actor Woody Harrelson, who was once arrested for planting hemp seeds >in a ceremonial protest, put up McCormick's $500,000 bail, and Alan >Isaacman, the lawyer who defended Larry Flynt on pornography charges, >signed on to defend him. > >McCormick made his case on the television show "Politically >Incorrect." And a fugitive in the case, Renee Boje, who was hired by >McCormick to sketch the plants for his book, is profiled in the >December issue of Glamour magazine under the headline "Drug Queenpin >or Innocent Victim?" > >Legalization advocates say the results of the case will serve as a >barometer of the federal government's willingness to prosecute medical >marijuana cases aggressively in states where medical use is legal. > >"To some degree, the outcome of this case will shape the extent to >which the federal government proceeds with additional federal >prosecutions for offenses which are no longer illegal under state >law," said Keith Stroup, the executive director of the National >Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a lobbyist for >marijuana legalization. "If it's a clean victory, it will encourage >them to use federal prosecution." > > >****************************************************************************** > >SAMPLE LETTER (sent) > >In the wake of news that a federal judge will not allow medical marijuana >patients Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick to use a medical defense >during their upcoming trial for growing marijuana, we are again reminded of >the tremendous gap between Washington, D.C. and the rest of the nation. > >McWilliams and McCormick used marijuana to save their lives. They engaged >in an activity they thought had been approved by the voters of California. >But instead of letting the people of California take care of their own >business, federal officials have used enormous resources to spy on, arrest >and now try medical marijuana users. McWilliams and McCormick aren't the >first medical marijuana patients to be railroaded through a federal court, >and, sadly, it looks like they won't be the last. > >It's time for every citizen to ask themselves: On whose behalf are federal >prosecutors working in cases like this? McWilliams and McCormick have >injured no one. They pose a threat to no one. Persecuting citizens who are >already under attack by horrible diseases illustrates how desperate federal >officials are to maintain their own illusions about marijuana. > >Despite what the judge and prosecutors in this case may believe, most of us >are fully aware that those illusions are not worth the life of McWilliams, >the suffering of McCormick or the subversion of the democratic process. >Marijuana does not kill human beings, but once again, the war against >marijuana is poised to strike down another life. > >Stephen Young > >IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number > >Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it >at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the >same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts > >3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm > >Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm > >**************************************************************************** > >Prepared by Stephen Young - http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily >Focus Alert Specialist > > > > > > > > > > >Mark Greer >Executive Director >DrugSense >MGreer@mapinc.org >http://www.drugsense.org >http://www.mapinc.org > > >=== > >Please help us help reform. Send drug-related news to editor@mapinc.org > >See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for details > >=== > >NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE > >DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE >TO PRODUCE. > >We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you >are able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our >convenient donation web site at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm > >********************* Just DO It!! ********************************** > >Mark Greer >Executive Director >DrugSense >MGreer@mapinc.org >http://www.drugsense.org/ >http://www.mapinc.org/ >------ >CRRH's Oregon petition now has over 25,000 signatures and needs 66,748 >voters' signatures by July to qualify for a 11/7/2000 vote. >------ >To subscribe, unsubscribe or switch to immediate or digest mode, please >send your instructions to . >------ >*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp* >CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286 >Phone:(503) 235-4606 Fax:(503) 235-0120 Web: http://www.crrh.org/