T
The420Guy
Guest
San Diego, Sept. 19:The US Attorney has warned medical
marijuana activist Steve McWilliams of the Shelter from the Storm
patients' collective to destroy his home marijuana garden or face
criminal prosecution.
The threat came two days after Mc Williams, a prominent Prop.
215 advocate and member of the city's medical marijuana task force,
led a public handout of medical cannabis to patients at city hall.
With his partner, nurse Barbara MacKenzie, McWilliams
cultivates a modest 30-plant garden in his side yard, from which they
grow medicine for themselves and a half dozen other patients for
whom they are legal Prop. 215 "caregivers". Among them are a
73-year-old woman with leukemia, a 70-year-old with prostate cancer,
and a terminal transplant patient. McWilliams' group has been
officially recognized by the city of San Diego as a legal patients'
collective in compliance with the city's Prop. 215 guidelines.
McWilliams says that a federal undercover agent followed him
while he was out shopping and presented him with a letter from U.S.
Attorney Carol C. Lam warning him to desist from his activities.
"Federal law enforcement agencies have received information
that you are cultivating possessing and distributing marijuana," the
letter reads, "Failure to immediately terminate your marijuana
growing and distributing activities and to destroy any marijuana
plants in your possession... will subject you to federal criminal
prosecution, regardless of the provisions of Proposition 215."
McWilliams and MacKenzie vow to resist the federal threat.
"We're not going away," says MacKenzie, "We have a right to legally
grow."
Shelter from the Storm is the latest in a series of
well-regarded patients' groups to be attacked by federal authorities.
Earlier this month, the DEA raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
marijuana in Santa Cruz, a collective of 250 seriously ill patients
that shared medicine amongst themselves. A number of smaller,
personal use patient gardens have also been attacked, despite
previous avowals by DEA Commissioner Asa Hutchinson that the
government is only interested in major traffickers.
Prop 215 supporters charge that the raids are politically
targeted against patient activists who dare to exercise their First
Amendment rights to speak publicly about their activities.
"Recent federal actions make a mockery of DEA Commissioner Asa
Hutchinson's claims that they are targeting major trafficking," says
California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer, "If the DEA were truly
concerned about narco-terrorism, it would be targeting large-scale
smuggling rings that supply the recreational market, not small-scale,
responsible, medical cannabis caregivers who follow Prop. 215."
California NORML estimates that there are presently some 30,000
medical marijuana patients in the state, about 1% of the state's
total marijuana using population. Nevertheless, medical marijuana
now accounts for 50% of all federal marijuana busts in San Francisco,
suggesting that medical marijuana has become a major enforcement
priority.
Word from US attorneys is that a crackdown has been ordered by
Attorney General Ashcroft, an ardent opponent of freedom of choice in
medicine.
"The Bush administration's assault on Prop. 215 make a
mockery of its supposed devotion to state's rights and federalism,"
says Gieringer. "There isn't a word in the Constitution giving the
federal government the power to dictate what kinds of medicine
patients may use to alleviate pain and suffering."
Patients' groups plan to challenge the federal government in
court, arguing among other things that the recent raids violate
rights reserved to individuals and the states under the 5th, 9th and
10th amendments, and exceed the federal government's authority under
the interstate commerce clause.
"The Department of Justice is biting off more than it can
chew," says Gieringer, "The federal government has no business
persecuting legal medical marijuana patients in California."
Contacts: Dale Gieringer, 415-563-5858
Steve McWilliams/Shelter from the Storm 619- 521-0337
- --
- ----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
marijuana activist Steve McWilliams of the Shelter from the Storm
patients' collective to destroy his home marijuana garden or face
criminal prosecution.
The threat came two days after Mc Williams, a prominent Prop.
215 advocate and member of the city's medical marijuana task force,
led a public handout of medical cannabis to patients at city hall.
With his partner, nurse Barbara MacKenzie, McWilliams
cultivates a modest 30-plant garden in his side yard, from which they
grow medicine for themselves and a half dozen other patients for
whom they are legal Prop. 215 "caregivers". Among them are a
73-year-old woman with leukemia, a 70-year-old with prostate cancer,
and a terminal transplant patient. McWilliams' group has been
officially recognized by the city of San Diego as a legal patients'
collective in compliance with the city's Prop. 215 guidelines.
McWilliams says that a federal undercover agent followed him
while he was out shopping and presented him with a letter from U.S.
Attorney Carol C. Lam warning him to desist from his activities.
"Federal law enforcement agencies have received information
that you are cultivating possessing and distributing marijuana," the
letter reads, "Failure to immediately terminate your marijuana
growing and distributing activities and to destroy any marijuana
plants in your possession... will subject you to federal criminal
prosecution, regardless of the provisions of Proposition 215."
McWilliams and MacKenzie vow to resist the federal threat.
"We're not going away," says MacKenzie, "We have a right to legally
grow."
Shelter from the Storm is the latest in a series of
well-regarded patients' groups to be attacked by federal authorities.
Earlier this month, the DEA raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
marijuana in Santa Cruz, a collective of 250 seriously ill patients
that shared medicine amongst themselves. A number of smaller,
personal use patient gardens have also been attacked, despite
previous avowals by DEA Commissioner Asa Hutchinson that the
government is only interested in major traffickers.
Prop 215 supporters charge that the raids are politically
targeted against patient activists who dare to exercise their First
Amendment rights to speak publicly about their activities.
"Recent federal actions make a mockery of DEA Commissioner Asa
Hutchinson's claims that they are targeting major trafficking," says
California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer, "If the DEA were truly
concerned about narco-terrorism, it would be targeting large-scale
smuggling rings that supply the recreational market, not small-scale,
responsible, medical cannabis caregivers who follow Prop. 215."
California NORML estimates that there are presently some 30,000
medical marijuana patients in the state, about 1% of the state's
total marijuana using population. Nevertheless, medical marijuana
now accounts for 50% of all federal marijuana busts in San Francisco,
suggesting that medical marijuana has become a major enforcement
priority.
Word from US attorneys is that a crackdown has been ordered by
Attorney General Ashcroft, an ardent opponent of freedom of choice in
medicine.
"The Bush administration's assault on Prop. 215 make a
mockery of its supposed devotion to state's rights and federalism,"
says Gieringer. "There isn't a word in the Constitution giving the
federal government the power to dictate what kinds of medicine
patients may use to alleviate pain and suffering."
Patients' groups plan to challenge the federal government in
court, arguing among other things that the recent raids violate
rights reserved to individuals and the states under the 5th, 9th and
10th amendments, and exceed the federal government's authority under
the interstate commerce clause.
"The Department of Justice is biting off more than it can
chew," says Gieringer, "The federal government has no business
persecuting legal medical marijuana patients in California."
Contacts: Dale Gieringer, 415-563-5858
Steve McWilliams/Shelter from the Storm 619- 521-0337
- --
- ----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
