The Broward Law Blog: Medical Marijuana

Showing posts with label Medical Marijuana. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Washington DC Will Get Medical Marijuana

Publisher Norm Kent visiting a legal medical dispensary in Oakland, California

Legal pot now closer to home.

House and Senate negotiations for the 2010 Appropriations bill have been completed, and Congress has opened the door to funding a law one right wing reprsentative thwarted ten years ago. It is medical marijuana time in the Capitol. Here's the deal. Brad Cohen will want to know.

In 1998, DC voters overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill, but Congressional anti-drug warriors- led by Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia- prevented DC from spending any federal money to count the votes (that’s right, in our democracy’s capital, our leaders conspired to prevent citizens from counting votes in a legal election).

When that was deemed unconstitutional by the courts, they spent the money to count the votes, showing that 69% of DC supported medical marijuana. So Rep. Barr created the “Barr Amendment” that prevented DC from spending any money to implement the medical marijuana program they had voted in.

Well, today’s 2010 Appropriations bill changes all that. In addition to removing bans on abortion, domestic partnerships, and needle exchange, Congress has given the go-ahead to begin implementing DC medical marijuana! I am getting back that apartment on Connecticut Avenue.

The combined bills in the Senate and House refect progressive changes by our Congress, removing special restrictions on the District of Columbia: eliminates a prohibition on the use of local tax funds for abortion, thereby putting the District in the same position as the 50 states. Also allows the District to implement the '98 referendum on use of marijuana for medical purposes as has been done in other states, and it allows use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs except in locations considered inappropriate by District authorities, and discontinues a ban on the use of funds in the bill for domestic partnership registration and benefits. In one fell swoop, four progressive pieces of legislation George Bush and his cohorts in the Republican controlled Congress never allowed.

DC’s medical marijuana bill was written with the same sort of open language as was passed in California… will we be seeing marijuana dispensaries on K Street anytime soon? Yes, he said, I do believe so!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Administration Will End Raids on Marijuana Dispensaries

In what can only be described as major departure in the so-called ‘war on drugs’, the Obama Administration has issued a new three page memo on medical dispensaries.

You can now read the memorandum, signed by Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, here.

I can only applaud the victory won today by marijuana activists. We can only celebrate the good and just fight anchored by NORML and its founder, Keith Stroup, who engaged this cause decades ago.

You can also share your thoughts with the White House on the administration's decision via NORML's Take Action Center here-mapping out the federal government’s new guidelines for states that have laws protecting medical cannabis patients. It is quite enough to be sick. It was sicker that our own government would further target sick patients.

Last February Attorney General Eric Holder indicated in a press conference that the Obama Administration–which favors physician-recommended access to medical cannabis–would abate from what had been an aggressive law enforcement (and propaganda) campaign against medical access to cannabis. After some delay, and some criticism, from impatient soldiers in the fight, such as me, that day has come. That victory is now won.

There is still much to do but this is one small toke for man, one giant joint for humankind.

Good article entitled 'Tokeville' in Harper's Magazine's October issue, for those so intrigued by this issue.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Judge Bernie Bober Makes His Mark

I have tried to use this blog for legal commentary, not for marketing my law office. I don’t take advertising. I just lend to these pages reflections on my experiences as a lawyer in Florida, sworn into the Bar thirty years ago next Wednesday.. Today though, I am going to talk about one of my own cases. But the story is more about my client and his judge then it is about me.

Carving out a judicial identity is no easy task. However, what I saw Judge Bernie Bober do in court on Tuesday merits recognition and comment.

It was a tough case that he inherited from another judge who had been transferred in January to the civil bench. The defendant had a small marijuana grow house in his back yard. But the defendant was not some young kid running a dope operation to sell weed. He was a medical caregiver, tending to plants while providing for his domestic partner who was living with HIV. They were both in their 40’s, came to America as our grandparents did, immigrants from another country. They worked hard, went to school, and graduated into their own businesses. They had strong friends, a good family, and ties to the community, socially and professionally. They owned their own home, paid their own taxes, and took care of each other; played together in local softball and bowling leagues.

“I did not want to grow pot,” the defendant said, “but I did not want to go out in the street and buy it illegally, get mugged or wind up with my partner smoking oregano or rat poison. I just wanted to provide him medicine, give him the same pot that is allowed in fourteen other states.” He apologized to the court for doing what he did, explaining his hands were tied; that he sought not to commit an injustice but rather remedy one.

Still, the defendant was their facing a charge of manufacturing cannabis as a result of a statewide sting last year called “Operation D Day,” a secretive law enforcement initiative that targeted over 135 grow houses statewide, where some defendants were found with guns, thousands of dollars, and hundreds and hundreds of plants. My client had 4.

The motion to suppress was heard by the previous jurist who did not summarily deny it. She analyzed the ‘knock and talk’ techniques conducted by law enforcement and determined it was ‘legitimate’ and the search was ‘consensual.’ We thought not, and were determined to appeal. We refused a state’s plea offer we determined was retaliatory, though not vindictive- excessive drug offender probation, fines, and community service. We pled open to the court, and reserved our right to an appeal; a close decision we think the prior jurist decided incorrectly- coming down on the side of the state and the detectives, instead of Miranda and our clients.

I laid out the essence of a medical necessity offense, pointing out my client’s situation, as a caregiver was not unlike that which had been litigated in many jurisdictions. I even pointed out that as a dual resident of California and Florida, I owned a medical marijuana identification card which enabled me, if I so chose, to grow in my garden in San Francisco as much medicine as my client cultivated in his backyard in Wilton Manors. I talked about my client’s standing in life and how much he had achieved; how far he had gone. We had almost thirty minutes to make our case. I had no clue what the sentence would be, only that it would be lesser than the sanctions offered by the state.

“Withheld and $100 court costs” on both counts came the words from the bench, when our presentation was concluded. My client was floored. I was awed. No unnecessary and foolish state sanctioned probation with reporting and restrictions and inhibitions which diminished his stature and standing as a human being and businessman who had gone through so many roads in life successfully. A jurist who crafted out a fair resolution, which was tailored to the circumstances and not bound by past precedent. One who was defining his identity as a courageous jurist willing to act on his own.

I hardly want to suggest Judge Bober was lenient. Judge Bober was just. He was a rubber stamp for no one. Instead, he was putting a stamp of professionalism and independence in his courtroom.

Earlier that morning, wading through his lengthy docket, I saw him unhesitatingly send a recidivist single mom of four to a year and a day for a second violation of probation which involved engaging in the same criminally offensive conduct that placed her on probation the first time. Placed her in jail, uncomfortably, even with the kids crying in the courtroom. I saw him take a man who was charged with fleeing and eluding and possession with aggravating circumstances, which jeopardized the public safety and put him in jail for a year as well. I also saw a young drug offender get a second chance at a sober house. Saw him reduce a bond for a housewife surprisingly charged with ‘trafficking in Oxycodone, because of the number of pills she had, from $100,000 to $10,000 when over a dozen members of her family stood up to testfy for her. It’s no easy task to wake up each day and have to craft decisions that impact the lives of so many people so quickly so swiftly. Not when your docket is overloaded and the crimes are too many.

But on the date of April 7, 2009, I witnessed why an individual with 25 years of experience as a public defender and lawyer, who had tried everything from simple misdemeanors to complicated murders was able to rise to the task successfully, affording in his courtroom patience and professionalism, and an opportunity to be heard. It had to be a long and exhausting morning for a new judge on the bench only a few months. But I witnessed why Judge Bernie Bober will lend character and dignity to that seat for many years.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Federal Sentencing of Medical Dispensary Owner Postponed by Judge

Great news from Los Angeles...

A federal judge here Monday postponed the sentencing of a man convicted of running a medical marijuana dispensary and asked the Department of Justice to clarify its revised position on such cases.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.said last week that federal authorities would not seek to prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries if the operations complied with state and local laws, a departure from the Bush administration policy that federal narcotics laws held sway. California is one of 13 states that allow the growth and sales of medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.

“The judge said this statement raises more questions than it answers,” said Reuven Cohen, a lawyer for the defendant, Charles Lynch. “He said he needed an explanation, and he needed it from the Department of Justice, not the local prosecutor.”

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States attorney in Los Angeles, said that he could not comment on the specifics of the request by Judge George H. Wu, but that prosecutors “do believe that Mr. Lynch violated state law.”

Last August, a jury convicted Mr. Lynch on five counts related to running a dispensary and selling medical marijuana to customers under 21, considered minors under a federal statute that prohibits the sale of marijuana and other narcotics to minors. Mr. Lynch faces a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The case has been widely followed by medical marijuana advocates since Mr. Lynch was arrested after a 2007 raid on his dispensary in Morro Bay, Calif.

“He’s scared,” Mr. Cohen said of Mr. Lynch. “He’s an engineer with no criminal record. In a million years, he never thought that this is where he’d be.”

Prosecutors convicted Mr. Lynch under federal statutes last summer. The issue of state law was barred from being raised in the trial, Mr. Cohen said. Here is my post about the situation a few weeks ago on The Kent Vent....

http://kentvent.blogspot.com/2009/02/no-oscar-for-citizens-protesting-unjust.html

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Son of Nation's New Drug Chief is in Jail in Broward County

Not Just a Czar, A Dad Feels Pain

by Norm Kent

Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has been tabbed by President Obama to assume the role of the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, putting him in position to become the nation's so-called drug czar. It is an office whose policies I have challenged repeatedly. Most drug law reformers have. For starters, Russia has czars. We do not need any position in America that begins and ends with the word czar.

Drug reform advocates are enthused that Kerlikowske will bring a new focus to the position, balancing traditional law enforcement efforts against drug trafficking with support for court programs that steer drug users into treatment and tolerance for needle-exchange programs and medical marijuana laws.

Kerlikowske, 59, has a perspective on the problem not only as a police chief but because as a father, he has had to deal with the problems of a difficult son. We have seen this before from Vice Presidents to County Commissioners. You hope your kid winds up being the valedictorian at Harvard, and not the guy asking if you want to supersize it. Things don’t always work out as we plan. The drug wars have victims. They usually are our friends, families, ad neighbors.

The Police Chief has a son from a broken marriage with a significant criminal history, and it includes arrests for felony battery, domestic violence, marijuana possession and distribution. He was released from prison for battery only last March, and he has more than just an open case in Broward. He is locked up in jail right now on a violation of probation. That is the picture of Jeffery Kerliskowske, about 39 years old above. He looks unhappy.

I feel for the dad, and apparently he understands the issue of drug abuse is one many families have endured. In his remarks prepared for the nomination, Chief Kerliskowske stated:

"Our nation's drug problem is one of human suffering, As a police officer, but also in my own family, I have experienced firsthand the devastating effects that drugs can have on our youth, our families and our communities."

The Chief has seen it all starting his law enforcement as a street cop in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1972 , and then went on to serve as chief in two Florida cities, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie, before shuffling off to Buffalo. He is now very well respected in Seatlle, and I have dealt with Seattle police each year at their annual hempfest, attended by over 100,000 drug reformers on Elliot Bay. There have been difficulties, of course, but the police and the pot enthusiasts have worked together well. He is part of a community which recognizes the need for medical marijuana. More importantly, the issue is one which penetrates his soul, his family, his heart.

I suspect we will hear a lot about Chief Kerlikowske. I hope his son gets the help he needs. I hope the Chief will bring this country the new direction on drug policies our nation needs.

What was it Aeschylus once wrote:

“He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”

Good Luck, Chief, with your job; with your son.

Monday, March 9, 2009

I Am Patient Number 380206011

Over the weekend the National Organization to Reform the Marijuana Laws had its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., and I was re-elected to the Board of Directors, a position I have held for over ten years.

It is my feeling that the marijuana laws of the United States are inconsistent and unjust and I have never hesitated expressing that conviction. But since this is a Law Blog representing the diversity of legal thought and ideas in our community and around the country, I have pretty much allowed those ideological convictions for drug law reform to be expressed on my personal blog site, The Kent Vent.

A piece I did this weekend has been taking off, with New Times picking it up as well as the main NORML blog, and a few other legal websites. Over the years, I have learned that when you tell personal stories, people relate to the reality, as compared to distant polemics.

What follows then is my link to the story 'I Am Patient Number 380206011':

http://kentvent.blogspot.com/2009/03/meet-me-i-am-patient-number-380206011.html

Got the idea for the title from Les Mis, you know when Jean Valjean, released from parole after ten years, and now the Mayor of the town, is uncovered by Lieutenant Jabert, and has to admit to being prisoner number 24601.

I can't think of a Broadway play I have seen more than Les Mis, and how many spectacular songs penetrate the production. Very excited to see that one of its best actors, Dudu Fisher, will be performing here at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on March 25. That is a show I will not miss.

Eventually, in Les Mis, the students, the protestors, the anarchists, Jean Valjean, are all acquitted. The justness of their cause is celebrated. So too will it one day be so for the prisoners of pot laws, who have spent decades fighting for justice, demeaned and disgraced by cowardly politicians who have succumbed to the politics of ignorance, expedience and indifference.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Weekend Homage to the Ganja Gods

Thursday, February 26, 2009

AG Eric Holder Affirms He Will End Raids on Medical Cannabis Providers

Score one for the good guys!

My friend Paul Armentano is reporting some great news on the NORML blog today. At least for me and people who have been working for years to fight for a change in American cannabis laws.

Earlier this month, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Yesterday, during a live interview on C-Span, he affirmed that this change includes ending the DEA raids of state-authorized medical marijuana providers.

Responding to a reporter’s question regarding the DEA’s recent actions against several California medical cannabis providers, Holder stated: “What the President said during the campaign . . . will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. . . What [President Obama] said during the campaign . . . is now American policy.”You can watch the video of Attorney General Holder’s remarks here.

Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy, and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal! It also lends support to the ongoing efforts in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — each of which are debating legislative proposals to make the production and distribution of medical cannabis legal under state law.

“Change we can believe in?” Yes it is, says Armentano, "and it’s about time." I concur.

Your friendly neighborhood blogger's post on this subject just yesterday is right here. There is time to save Charles Lynch.

http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/25/no-oscars-for-medical-marijuana-providers/

Will be in DC next week for the NORML Board of Directors meeting (http://www.norml.org/); definitely going to follow Forrest Gump's advice and bring Eric Holder a box of chocolates. Not brownies, just chocolates. :-)