Medical Marijuana: California Dr. Molly Fry Sentenced to Five Years | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

Medical Marijuana: California Dr. Molly Fry Sentenced to Five Years | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)

A federal judge in Sacramento sentenced Dr. Marion "Mollie" Fry and her companion, attorney Dale Schafer, to five years in federal prison for conspiring to grow and distribute marijuana on March 19. Fry, who used marijuana herself in connection with radical breast cancer surgery, and Schafer, who used it for back pain and a dangerous form of hemophilia, also provided marijuana to patients under California's Compassionate Use Act.

But the Justice Department prosecuted the couple under the federal marijuana laws, leaving US District Judge Frank Damrell Jr. no choice but to impose the mandatory minimum five-year prison sentenced required under the law because they had more than 100 plants.

"It is a sad day, a terrible day," Damrell said during sentencing, adding that if it were up to him, the punishment would have been less. But he also criticized Fry and Schafer for refusing to accept a plea bargain that could have left them free. "You had the opportunity to resolve this case, but you wanted to soldier on, knowing that your kid would be left behind," he told the couple.

In a departure from normal practice on the federal bench and to the delight of supporters who packed the courtroom, Judge Damrell granted the pair bail, so they will remain free while their case is appealed. Damrell, who is also presiding over the Bryan Epis case and has granted him bail too, said the exceptional circumstances of the case create "serious issues that need to be decided by an appellate court." Among those, he noted, are Fry and Schafer's claim they were entrapped.

FLAMME benefit concert a huge sucess!

Our medical marijuana benefit concert Friday night was a HUGE success! We raised close to $500! Thank you to all who attended.

The music was exquisite, as was the venue. Nicole, Vernon and Elaine also spoke about their own experiences and they did great! Thank you to Glenn, who set up all the bands and arranged the venue, for all his hard work.

Also in attendance was Irvin Rosenfeld, one of the Nation’s only Federal medical cannabis patients. The Federal government actually, to this very day, sends him 300 marijuana cigarettes every month for his medical condition. Grown by the University of Mississippi under contract by The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is the only legal source for cannabis in the United States under Federal law.

Also, Mr Rosenfeld cannot be arrested anywhere in the country for possession! He has 100% legal marijuana. Most people don’t even think there is such a thing. But there is! He is living proof of it. You can read more about him and others like him below. He is truly a national celebrity in the medical cannabis movement. We feel honored to have had him in attendance.

He sits on the board of directors for an organization called "Patients out of Time", an organization founded and run by official federal medical cannabis patients. Who also have 100% legal marijuana! But, only for themselves unfortunately. The program they were involved in (Compassionate Investigational New Drug program (IND) was terminated in 1992 courtesy of George Bush, Sr. Why was it terminated? A number of AIDS patients started applying to it, so they shut it down. How kind of them to do that.

"Patients out of Time"
medicalcannabis.com

Google video of Irvin Rosenfeld


Youtube video of Irvin Rosenfeld

Successful Medical Necessity Defense in Texas Marijuana Case

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run >

Jacob Sullum | March 27, 2008, 12:44pm

This week Tim Stevens, a 53-year-old Amarillo man who smokes marijuana to relieve the cyclical vomiting syndrome associated with HIV infection, used a necessity defense to win an acquittal on a possession charge. His attorney, Jeff Blackburn, says this appears to be the first time the defense, which argues that breaking the law was necessary to prevent a harm worse than the one the law is aimed at preventing, has been successful in a Texas marijuana case.

Stevens, whose vomiting has been so severe that he was hospitalized and received blood transfusions, was arrested last October after an anonymous tipster saw him sharing a joint on a friend's porch in Amarillo and called the police. He had about a twelfth of an ounce of marijuana, resulting in a Class B misdemeanor charge that carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. He probably could have gotten off with a fine or a year's probation, Blackburn says, "but he didn't want to; he wanted to take a stand." The trial lasted about 10 hours on Tuesday, and the jury came back after 11 minutes with a "not guilty" verdict.

Blackburn says the expert testimony of Steve Jenison, medical director of the Infectious Diseases Bureau in New Mexico's Department of Health, helped establish that marijuana is demonstrably effective at treating nausea and superior in some ways to the legal alternatives. (For one thing, unlike the synthetic THC capsule Marinol, it does not have to be swallowed and kept down, a feat for someone suffering from severe nausea.) Blackburn, who was not at all confident about the prospects for Stevens' unusual defense in a "very, very conservative area," also credits "a streak of independence" and a "distaste for government" that he says is common in West Texas. "I think these jurors like the idea that they get to make a decision about what the law means, about when it applies," he says, "and I don't think they were shy at all about deciding how valuable the law proscribing marijuana use really is."

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank Brings Marijuana Bill To Congress

Congressman Barney Frank, representing the 4th district of Massachusetts, plans to file legislation this week that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of Marijuana on the national level.

Frank, who filed a bill to decriminalize marijuana as a member of the Massachusetts legislature, believes that the Federal Government unfairly targets medical marijuana patients in California, and believes that drug laws should be left up to the states.

Frank also asserts that the public doesnot generally support the current marijuana laws and that the federal government should not have a law in the books which doesn’t make sense to most of the public.This bill comes at a cruicial crossroads for the legalization movement, with the effort to decriminalize marijuana at the strongest it has been in decades.

About a month ago, the American College of Physicians officially backed medical marijuana and told the government to stop prosecuting users of medical marijuana. New Hampshire, Alaska and Illinois are all hearing arguments on new legislation regarding marijuana laws and there are 12 states that have already decriminalized possession.

Barney Frank was quoted by the associated press as saying, "Do you really think people should be prosecuted for smoking marijuana? I don’t think most people agree with that. It’s one area where the public is ahead of the elected officials.”

read more | digg story

Fox News Miami........is not real news

In the tradition of the 1936 anti-drug film "Reefer Madness," the Fox News story I caught airing on July 13, 07 contained misinformation, a lot of scare words, and no independent fact checking of the claims of government agents.

The uncontroverted facts I quote in my video come from the 1988 administrative law decision available at:

http://www.druglibrary.org

And, finally, though this video does not reveal Fox News partisan political bias, it still contains enough bias against more liberal drug laws to make OVER TWO DOZEN EXAMPLES on my Fox News Bias YouTube playlist at: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list

This article courtesy of youtube user LiberalViewer

United Nations Global Drug Czar can't even answer a simple question.

Cannabis use in Holland is completely decriminalized. It is freely available to anyone over the age of 18. It is sold in retail stores. Yet cannabis use is significantly lower in Holland then in any of the other surrounding countries where it is completely illegal.

Listen to how Mr. Antonio-Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime", the most powerful Drug Czar in the world, the answers the question as to why.

After the question is posed by NGO partner Frederick Polak, he basically says "I refuse to talk about that, PERIOD!" Then he gets HAMMERED by Mr Polak! It's pretty sweet. In fact, it's priceless!

Video courtesy of The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.





This really is a telling video. Kudos to Frederick Polak, who respectfully, yet firmly and persistently, tried to get an answer to a very basic question: "If prohibition is the only way to contain the drug problem, how do you explain that the prevalence of cannabis use is lower or similar in the Netherlands than in many neighboring countries?"

Peter Sarosi reports that

Some NGO representatives on the other end gave a standing ovation to Mr. Costa when he left the hall (you can see the same people applauding his anti-coffee shop statements in our video). The celebration was initiated by the lapdogs of the U.S. and Swedish governments of course, like the European Cities Against Drugs, an international organization funded by the Swedish government to promote its drug policy, praising "treatment" services in Russia notorious for chaining and humiliating drug users, or SUNDIAL, an "NGO" led by the former speechwriter of the American drug czar. Among them we found the representative of the Partnership for a Drug Free America as well, who advocates the idea that we can solve drug problems by forcing schoolchildren to piss to a flask, despite the growing evidence that school drug testing doesn't work at all.

Pretty amazing when you watch the video and hear these people applauding Costa's obvious avoidance tactic. I mean, if you understand even the basics of English, it's obvious that Costa was purposely not answering the question and refusing to allow it to be considered. And for that they applauded?

It's almost as though they were sitting there thinking "Uh, oh, that druggie guy got nailed us good on that one -- how will Costa respond? ... Oh, excellent technique! You simply dodged it! Bravo!"

BBSNews - Czech Republic Legalizes Medical Marijuana Cultivation

Czech Republic Legalizes Medical Marijuana Cultivation

Monday, March 17 2008 @ 12:05 PM EDT
Edited by: Michael Hess

High court declares the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes to be legal

BBSNews 2008-03-17 -- (IACM) According to a report by Radio Praha of 4 March the high court ruled that the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes is not a criminal offence. The court had to decide on the case of a woman, who had been convicted by a lower court but referred to the fact that she intended to use the cultivated plants for the alleviation of skin and stomach problems and not for the production of psychoactive effects. Cannabis is increasingly used for medicinal purposes in the Czech Republic.

The mere discovery of the plants was not sufficient for conviction. Rather, it would have been necessary to prove the intention to make marijuana from the plants. Cultivation of hemp for the production of skin ointments would however constitute only a small public hazard and it would not be reasonable to criminalize it, the judgment stated. The case has now to by retried by a lower court.

(Source: Radio Praha of 4 March 2008)

Help students get their financial aid back!

Subject: Help students get their financial aid back!

http://www.ssdp.org/judges

On March 13, U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced the first ever Senate bill to prevent college students from automatically losing financial aid as a punishment for drug offenses. S.2767 would allow students with drug convictions to keep aid and stay in school unless a judge specifically ruled they should lose education in addition to other punishments imposed like fines, jail time, or community service.

Although the penalty should be repealed outright, the judicial discretion bill would tremendously reduce its impact by turning it into an opt-in punishment instead of an automatic one. Take action now by spending one minute to edit and send a pre-written letter to your senators!

Any college student who gets convicted of a drug offense automatically loses his or her financial aid. Unfortunately, this harmful aid elimination penalty has already impacted more than 200,000 students.

Thankfully the U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would significantly scale back the penalty, allowing students to keep aid and stay in school unless a judge specifically ruled they should lose their education in addition to other punishments usually imposed such as fines, jail time, or community service.

While only a full and complete repeal of the penalty would address all its problems, the judicial discretion bill would at least eliminate the mandatory minimum punishment on every and all drug students with convictions, immensely reducing its negative impact

http://www.ssdp.org/judges

FL Governor Used to Smoke Pot!

Florida

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Crist Wants to Maintain Drug Penalties

Marc Caputo

March 15, 2008

Miami Herald

TALLAHASSEE -- Though he has admitted to smoking marijuana, Gov. Charlie Crist said he still favors Florida's tough drug laws and doesn't support legislative plans to review whether to lessen penalties for some crimes such as non-violent drug possession.

The state's prison population is expected to swell at year's end to a record 100,000, about 20 percent of whom are non-violent drug offenders convicted of crimes such as trafficking and simple possession.

And some legislators have wondered aloud and in private how the state can afford to pay for it now that Florida's economy is sagging and crime is rising It costs more than $19,000 a year to lock up an inmate, not counting the millions it will cost to build two prisons per year through 2013 to keep up with prison-population growth.

While no legislator has filed a bill to decriminalize drug laws outright, the Senate and House are considering measures that allow some inmates early and supervised work release, that establish a commission to review mandatory-minimum prison sentences -- a legacy of the drug war -- and that lessen penalties for driving with a suspended license.

But Crist said he wants to keep the laws the way they are. ''It's important to make sure that we do what the first order of business is, and that is to ensure domestic tranquility -- make sure that our people are safe -- and that means locking up bad people,'' he said.

What about nonviolent drug offenders?

''I feel that our laws are good in Florida. They were thoughtfully put in place. And I know there is a budget crunch. But I don't want to sacrifice public safety,'' Crist said.

Plantation Democratic Rep. Perry Thurston said the Legislature is not yet ready for decriminalization, but he noted his Republican colleagues are slowly starting to realize that too many people are being locked away and they're changing their minds about being tough on certain crimes.

Tampa Sen. Victor Crist -- a Republican who's not related to the governor and chairs the senate's criminal-justice appropriations committee -- said locking up drug users costs society and the state too much money, and it doesn't work.

''That's the old way; throw a drug addict in jail. But now we know treatment works, it's better and it's cheaper,'' Sen. Crist said. ``If you're a violent criminal, you belong in a cell. If you're a drug addict, you belong in a rehab program.''

He said the Legislature is studying who's in prison and why -- something which can take time because prison records don't reflect the type of drug or specifics of a crime for which someone is convicted.

Asked if marijuana-possession should be decriminalized, Sen. Crist said: ``The man or woman abusing drugs need to be in a program to overcome their addiction. And the time has come to look at the prison system and make sure this is appropriate.''

While the state senator said he hasn't used illegal drugs, the governor acknowledged he had. Asked if he ever used marijuana, Crist said ``Yeah.''

''I've said many times, people make mistakes. And what I support about the law is the deterrent effect,'' he said. ``Having said that, I'm also recommending about $28 million for substance-abuse [treatment], to help people who might have an addiction or problem with a substance. I think that's important to do as well. I think we have to have balance.''

Gov. Crist said he only used marijuana recreationally when he was younger and long before public life and that he never used cocaine.

Did he inhale? ''I did,'' he said.

A Truth Barack Obama Won't Dare Tell:

A TRUTH BARACK OBAMA WON'T DARE TELL: DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA USE
by Steve Chapman, (Source:Orlando Sentinel)

Florida
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Lately, Barack Obama has been quoting John F. Kennedy: "The world is changing. The old ways will not do." For a few hours the other day, I was starting to think he really meant it.

On Thursday, The Washington Times reported that in 2004, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Obama came out for decriminalizing marijuana use. That usually means eliminating jail sentences and arrest records for anyone caught with a small amount for personal use, treating it more like a traffic offense than a violent crime. But in a show of hands at a debate last fall, he indicated that he opposed the idea.

When confronted on the issue by the Times, however, the senator defended his original ground. His campaign said he has "always" supported decriminalization.

It's a brave position, and therefore exceedingly rare among practicing politicians. Which may be why it didn't last. Before the day was over, the Obama campaign issued a statement saying he thinks "we are sending far too many first-time non-violent drug users to prison for very long periods of time" but "does not believe that we should treat offenses involving marijuana with a simple fine or just by confiscating the drug." Recently, he had told a New Hampshire newspaper, "I'm not in favor of decriminalization."

This episode reveals that as a candidate, Obama is more fond of bold rhetoric than bold policies. But it also proves the impossibility of talking sense on the subject of illicit drugs during a political campaign. That course of action would mean admitting the inadmissible: that the prohibition of cannabis has been cruel, wasteful and fraudulent.

Cruel because it leads to the arrest of nearly 700,000 people a year for mere possession of a substance that is comparatively benign. Wasteful because it expends billions of dollars in police, court and correctional resources that could be deployed against dangerous predators. Fraudulent because it hasn't solved anything: According to the federal government, nearly 100 million Americans have tried the stuff.

But in the political realm, a strangely disjointed view of drugs prevails. Past use is forgivable. Both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton admitted to smoking marijuana, as did Al Gore and John Kerry. Obama has admitted doing the same.

At the same time, no major party presidential nominee has advocated decriminalization ( much less legalization ) since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976. It would be considered political suicide. So we are now in a bizarre position: A candidate who spent his college days flouting our marijuana laws can be elected president, but an abstemious, button-downed candidate who proposes to change those laws has no hope.

Had we enforced our statutes more vigorously, of course, Bush, Clinton and the others would never have been elected anything, because they would be ex-convicts. Yet Bush, Clinton and the others were happy to put people behind bars for crimes they themselves committed.

One alternative to that approach is decriminalization, which is not exactly radical or untried. It's already the norm in 12 different states -- not just California and New York, but Mississippi, Ohio and Nebraska. About one of every three Americans lives in a state or city where pot users typically don't go to jail.

Despite this lenient approach, Omaha and Cincinnati still would never be mistaken for Jamaica. One thing we know is that criminal penalties have little if any effect on the number of stoners. States that have decriminalized cannabis are largely indistinguishable from states that have not.

A 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences found "little evidence that decriminalization of marijuana use necessarily leads to a substantial increase in marijuana use." In 2003, Boston University economist Jeffrey Miron surveyed the available data from here and abroad and agreed: "Existing evidence provides no indication that marijuana decriminalization causes increased marijuana use."

This discovery should not be surprising. Cigarettes and beer are both legally available, but smoking and drinking have been declining for years. Freedom is not incompatible with enlightened self-restraint. In fact, it seems to foster it.

Politicians normally can't say such things. But near the end of his administration, Bill Clinton confided to Rolling Stone magazine that he thought marijuana should be decriminalized. Maybe eight years from now, Obama will do likewise.

NORML.ORG US FL: Column: A Truth Barack Obama Won't Dare Tell:

Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Senate Committee in Illinois - Salem-News.Com

Mar-05-2008 13:59

Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Senate Committee in Illinois

A multiple sclerosis patient's testimony appears to have reached legislators.

(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) - For the second year in a row, members of the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee voted in favor of a medical marijuana bill, 6-4, after receiving written and oral testimony from medical professionals, patients, and policy experts today.

SB 2865, sponsored by Sens. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Donn E. Trotter (D-Chicago), both of whom serve as majority caucus whips, would protect seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation from the threat of arrest and jail.

The bill will now go to the Senate floor for a full vote. An identical bill, HB 5938, sponsored by Rep. Angelo Saviano (R-River Grove), has been introduced in the House and is expected to receive committee consideration soon.

Committee members heard testimony from multiple sclerosis patient and Illinois Drug Education and Legislative (IDEAL) Reform board member Julie Falco, of Chicago, as well as registered nurse and multiple sclerosis patient Gretchen Steele, of Coulterville.

Falco said medical marijuana relieved her painful symptoms much better than the more powerful, addictive medications doctors had prescribed her.

"As of today, I am off of all pharmaceutical medications and living a relatively active life," she said. "I believe that physicians, healthcare professionals, legislators and the public can come together on this issue – it is time to change our laws."

"Because our laws regarding medical marijuana are hopelessly out of step with what science, compassion and common sense tell us about this drug, countless suffering Illinoisans like Julie and Gretchen must choose between finding relief or obeying the law," Cullerton said.

"Passing this bill into law will ensure patients battling incapacitating pain – some for their very lives – have access to proven safe, effective medicine."

Experience in 12 other states with similar laws proves that Illinois can protect patients without hindering law enforcement efforts to fight illicit marijuana use, said Ray Warren, a former North Carolina legislator and superior court judge who now serves as the Marijuana Policy Project's director of state policies.

"Our first obligation should be ensuring that our laws don't prevent suffering patients from obtaining needed medicine – or make them criminals if they do," he said.

"We have learned that we can fulfill this moral duty with well-regulated programs designed to effectively prevent potential abuses."