25I_am_so_wonderfu
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2012
- Messages
- 265
A family of medical marijuana patients in Washington state will not be able to defend themselves against drug trafficking charges by presenting evidence that their state-legal marijuana grow was for personal medical use.
"In regard to the medical marijuana evidence, I'm still persuaded that it will confuse the jury," U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington said during a pretrial hearing teleconference on Monday. "I don't think [medical marijuana evidence] is relevant."
Van Sickle's ruling should come as no surprise. During a pretrial hearing in May, the judge had ruled that the five defendants, who face trial next month, could not use an "affirmative defense" that their cannabis plants were grown for medical purposes. With Monday's ruling, the judge said that the defendants can't bring in any physical evidence that references medical marijuana use either and that Washington state law on medical marijuana can't be discussed before the jury.
Because marijuana use is illegal under federal law (with a few rare exceptions), federal courts generally don't allow evidence that the drug may have been taken as medicine -- even when medical marijuana is permitted by state law, as it has been in Washington since 1998. Larry Harvey, 70; his wife, Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, 55; their son Rolland Gregg, 33; daughter-in-law Michelle Gregg, 35; and family friend Jason Zucker, 38, sought to present evidence that the marijuana they grew was, in fact, legal under state law, doctor-recommended and appropriate for each family member's condition.
"The jury will never hear that there was a sign [at the grow site] for medical marijuana," lawyer Douglas D. Phelps, who represents Rolland Gregg, said during Monday's hearing. "They'll never hear that the defendants had a use for the marijuana that was medicinal. They'll never hear how they intended to use the crop, the purposes that they would use it for or that the doctors believed that the amounts they were growing was consistent with their medical necessity."
Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/23/harvey-family-medical-marijuana_n_5523359.html
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We really need to do something about this shit once and for all.
This is 2014. Are we honestly going to sit back and allow people who were simply growing a relatively harmless plant for not only personal use, but for MEDICINAL reasons nonetheless, to go to federal prison for 40 to life? They pretty much have no defense now since medicinal marijuana seems like a pretty legitimate reason for growing it. I don't understand who in the world thinks this family deserves to be thrown in prison like this because of medicinal marijuana. This is just really sick and it reeks of political witch-hunt. This should be what turns the tide on marijuana policy in this country and has people demanding the Drug War-insanity end now because this war on cannabis has gone too far for far too long.
This is what we are wasting taxpayer dollars, federal resources and police manpower on. Just more lives ruined over what? And this is a pretty shallow in the grand scheme of things when it comes to the US justice system treating peoples lives like games and screwing them over. No doubt they've stooped to worse. So if this of all things doesn't outrage you, then I don't know what will.
*political rant over*
"In regard to the medical marijuana evidence, I'm still persuaded that it will confuse the jury," U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle of the Eastern District of Washington said during a pretrial hearing teleconference on Monday. "I don't think [medical marijuana evidence] is relevant."
Van Sickle's ruling should come as no surprise. During a pretrial hearing in May, the judge had ruled that the five defendants, who face trial next month, could not use an "affirmative defense" that their cannabis plants were grown for medical purposes. With Monday's ruling, the judge said that the defendants can't bring in any physical evidence that references medical marijuana use either and that Washington state law on medical marijuana can't be discussed before the jury.
Because marijuana use is illegal under federal law (with a few rare exceptions), federal courts generally don't allow evidence that the drug may have been taken as medicine -- even when medical marijuana is permitted by state law, as it has been in Washington since 1998. Larry Harvey, 70; his wife, Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, 55; their son Rolland Gregg, 33; daughter-in-law Michelle Gregg, 35; and family friend Jason Zucker, 38, sought to present evidence that the marijuana they grew was, in fact, legal under state law, doctor-recommended and appropriate for each family member's condition.
"The jury will never hear that there was a sign [at the grow site] for medical marijuana," lawyer Douglas D. Phelps, who represents Rolland Gregg, said during Monday's hearing. "They'll never hear that the defendants had a use for the marijuana that was medicinal. They'll never hear how they intended to use the crop, the purposes that they would use it for or that the doctors believed that the amounts they were growing was consistent with their medical necessity."
Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/23/harvey-family-medical-marijuana_n_5523359.html
---
We really need to do something about this shit once and for all.
This is 2014. Are we honestly going to sit back and allow people who were simply growing a relatively harmless plant for not only personal use, but for MEDICINAL reasons nonetheless, to go to federal prison for 40 to life? They pretty much have no defense now since medicinal marijuana seems like a pretty legitimate reason for growing it. I don't understand who in the world thinks this family deserves to be thrown in prison like this because of medicinal marijuana. This is just really sick and it reeks of political witch-hunt. This should be what turns the tide on marijuana policy in this country and has people demanding the Drug War-insanity end now because this war on cannabis has gone too far for far too long.
This is what we are wasting taxpayer dollars, federal resources and police manpower on. Just more lives ruined over what? And this is a pretty shallow in the grand scheme of things when it comes to the US justice system treating peoples lives like games and screwing them over. No doubt they've stooped to worse. So if this of all things doesn't outrage you, then I don't know what will.
*political rant over*
