War on Medical Marijuana Patients Continues in San Diego
I’ve recently been corresponding with a medical marijuana patient and Navy veteran, Eugene Davidovich, who was recently arrested in a particularly slimy undercover sting operation. Eugene, a member of a San Diego medical marijuana collective, was contacted by an undercover cop posing as a registered, licensed medical marijuana patient who asked for his help obtaining his medicine.
You can probably guess the rest, but here’s a link to a good comprehensive story on his arrest.
Prosecutors argue that Eugene violated the law in providing medical marijuana to the undercover cop – even though the cop presented him with documentation verifying his status as a licensed medical marijuana patient. They even insinuate that Eugene’s motive was profit and not compassion.
It appears that what’s really happening is that prosecutors are taking advantage of vagaries in California’s medical marijuana law to persecute patients and caregivers who are doing their best to take care of themselves and stay within the law.
Here’s how Eugene put it:
Every attempt made to date by collectives and coops to follow the law in San Diego has resulted in prosecutions or collectives having to operate so deeply underground and under such intense daily fear and pressure, that the potential public benefit they could be bringing to the community and to patients is stifled by this environment of fear.
Eugene has a fight on his hands now. Please visit his Web site and help him out if you can.
June 5, 2009 37 Comments
10 Good Signs for Reform in ’09
After MPP passed the medical marijuana ballot initiative in Michigan and the marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative in Massachusetts — both on November 4 — I thought the MPP staff might get a little downtime to regroup for the 2009-2010 election cycle. Not so.
In the last four months, the MPP staff and our allies have been working almost nonstop to respond to — and take advantage of — the many opportunities that have been presenting themselves across the country. I’ve never seen so much evidence of positive change in such a short amount of time … [Read more →]
March 6, 2009 21 Comments
Phelps, Kellogg’s — and a Boycott?
Breakfast cereal giant Kellogg’s has announced it won’t renew Michael Phelps’ endorsement contract because he’s been photographed apparently smoking marijuana. Some are already arguing for a boycott of Kellogg’s in response. Others are urging people to contact the company and politely complain. Given that Kellogg’s apparently thought a prior drunk driving arrest was not a problem, endorsement-wise, there certainly seems to be a hypocrisy issue here.
Boycotts are notoriously difficult to pull off, and many more such efforts flop than produce meaningful results. But personally, I think I can live without Rice Krispies for a while. What do you think?
February 6, 2009 75 Comments
D.C. Settles in Magbie’s Death, but U.S. Congress Members’ Hands Still Bloody
Now that her case is settled against the D.C. government over the 2004 death of her quadriplegic son while in prison for marijuana possession, I hope Mary Scott can find at least some comfort.
However, the D.C. prison system’s incompetence and neglect are not the only culprits in Jonathan Magbie’s tragic death. If it weren’t for Congress continually blocking the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative 69% of D.C. voters passed in 1998, Magbie would probably be alive today.
December 3, 2008 4 Comments
More Outrage in Rachel Hoffman’s Murder
Every time I think the murder of 22-year-old Rachel Hoffman couldn’t get more repulsive, new details emerge suggesting there’s no end to the incompetence, recklessness, and misplaced values of the officers who caused her death.
The young woman – whom the Tallahassee Police Department recruited as a confidential informant after threatening her with a marijuana charge – was murdered by the drug dealers she’d been sent to ensnare in a sting operation.
One of the many confounding aspects of the case to me was why they would send Rachel to buy not just an uncharacteristically large amount of drugs, but a gun as well. She had never been in legal trouble for anything except a couple relatively low-level drug offenses mostly involving marijuana, and she had absolutely no history of violence.
It now appears she suggested purchasing the gun herself because the cops had led her to believe a more high-profile bust would mean the end of her obligations as a CI, and that she would then be allowed to move on with her life. [Read more →]
November 3, 2008 5 Comments
