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Buzzby

First-Ever U.S. Senate Bill to Protect Medical Marijuana Patients Introduced
Bruce Mirken | Common Dreams | 11/18/2004

WASHINGTON -- November 18 -- U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), joined by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jim Jeffords (I-VT), have introduced the first-ever Senate bill to ensure that federal juries hear the full story when medical Marijuana patients and providers, operating legally under state law, are tried on federal Marijuana charges.

S. 2989 is similar to H.R. 1717, the "Truth in Trials Act," introduced by a bipartisan House coalition last year and inspired in part by the case of Ed Rosenthal. In January 2003, Rosenthal was found guilty of felony Marijuana cultivation charges by a jury that was not allowed to consider that the Marijuana was for medical use by seriously ill patients and was grown with the authorization of the city of Oakland, California.

When they learned the truth, jurors who convicted Rosenthal publicly repudiated their own verdict and apologized to him, feeling they had been duped into convicting an innocent man. "I helped send a man to prison who does not belong there," juror Marney Craig wrote in a column for the San Jose Mercury News. Newspaper editorial boards nationwide, including The New York Times and Baltimore's The Sun, condemned the verdict, using terms like "mean-spirited" and "cruel."

In his statement introducing the legislation, Durbin noted, "This is a narrowly-tailored bill ... Under this legislation, defendants in the ten states with medicinal Marijuana laws could be found not guilty of violating federal law if their actions are done in compliance with state law."

Because federal law does not recognize any medical use of Marijuana, defendants have been barred from raising the issue in their defense. "As it stands today, federal law denies medical Marijuana defendants a basic right that every other defendant has, the right to explain what they did to the jury," said Robert Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., "If you shoot someone, you are allowed to explain why you did it, but if you're a disabled patient growing Marijuana to relieve your pain and suffering, you can't. Jurors who could imprison someone for decades have a right to hear the whole truth, not a censored version that is
stripped of facts the federal government doesn't like."

On Nov. 29, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Ashcroft v. Raich, which could limit federal authority to enforce federal Marijuana laws against intrastate, noncommercial medical Marijuana activities.

With more than 17,000 members and 150,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest Marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with Marijuana -- both the consumption of Marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with Marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, please visit MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Finkel

It's good to hear they finally made a law for people w/ their licenses, it's always been awful to hear about the people who had to go to jail because they couldn't defend themselves. You can kill someone and defend yourself but you can't explain why you smoke some pot?!? It's a load of bull and I'm glad to see that some people in the government actually have retained some sort of sense of responsibility for the public. Hell yeah!

Lothar121

It's time that we step up and write!

http://www.mpp.org/trials

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smokebud4life

yea its great and all that MMJ users are protected, but what about the rest of us? When will it be our time to smoke marijuana legally? They cannot keep it illegal forever, so why not legal now?

Buzzby

1.The Federal Govt is in the control of a bunch of uptight born again power hungry bigots who think anything different from their own habits is "evil".

2.The pharmaceutical industry funds most of the political campaigns in this country. The don't want anyone else playing in their pond.

3.Alcohol producers with powerful connections don't want any competition.

4.Pulp wood producers with powerful connections don't want any competition.

5.Cotton producers with powerful connections don't want any competition.

6.Stoners spend all their money on weed and don't contribute to the lobbying organizations that can influence politicians to vote for pro-Marijuana issues.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)

 

gallomimia

Hold on here. If a defendant us disallowed from saying it's for medical purposes, grown only for seriously ill users, isn't that a violation of his/her freedom of speech?

Or, are courts allowed to say whatever the hell they want?

killer12382

Reality check!!!!!!!!
Look who introduced this bill. A couple of democratic senators and Jeffers (he's hated by the GOP for jumping ship). This bill is dead and won't even make it out of committee for a floor vote. Ain't happening....not this year or next. Try 2008 or 2012....maybe.....I doubt it though.