Would it be right to take a diabetic person and take away their medicine and lock them up?
Is it humane to take away a person’s medicine and lock them up in jail while they are suffering pain?
Louisiana needs to stop using terror tactics against patients and stop causing pain and suffering upon medical marijuana users. Louisiana law was enacted in the 70’s for marijuana patients and it’s use, but politicians have tried to bury that fact.
THIBODAUX — There was never any intent to break the law, Matthew Zugsberger says.
Louisiana does not make the same allowances for medical marijuana use as his home state of California. But the former oilfield diver was certain his privilege of possession would be honored here.
That was until Friday, when a team of state troopers, aided by Thibodaux police, raided his St. Bernard Road apartment, allegedly seizing a little over two pounds of marijuana, some hashish oil and $4,640 in cash.
Now the 32-year-old faces multiple drug charges.
He expresses no hard feelings toward law enforcement and harbors hopes that his case will, in the long run, make life easier for people like himself.
“They didn’t mistreat me at all. In fact they were very nice,” he said of the officers. “I don’t want to fight the system. I want to help refine it.”
It all began Wednesday when Troop C officers were contacted by authorities in Mendocino, Calif., who said a “large amount of marijuana” was en route to the bayou state via a private delivery service to 2316 St. Bernard Road, Apt. E.
The package, said Troop C spokesman Gilbert Dardar, was addressed to Zugsberger and “contained three large bags of marijuana.”
Troopers agreed to take delivery of the marijuana in an attempt to further the investigation, Dardar said. The shipment was intercepted and a search of Zugsberger’s apartment commenced Friday.
Zugsberger, Dardar said, admitted to officers that he paid $6,000 per pound for the marijuana, which “appeared to be very high quality with a much higher THC content.”
THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that causes intoxication.
According to Zugsberger, the high price is one indication of his argument that he is not involved in distribution.
There would be no way, he said, to make a profit selling marijuana after paying that much for it.
At $375 an ounce, he was not reselling. Streeet price for black market marijuana is under $100 an ounce, no way he could resell that stuff for that amount and make his money back. He was buying medicine that is NOT available to him where he is, and paying high cost for it!
This is exactly why cannabis needs to be allowed for medical so regulation can occur. This man should have safe access to his medicine, not have to turn to a black market and by default commit “criminal acts” by simply trying to locate his medicine.
The need for the drug, Zugsberger said, arose after a 2005 work mishap. Debris fell on him during a dive, he said, collapsing his spine.
Prescriptions for traditional painkillers didn’t do the trick, he said, because of medical complications with his stomach.
Zugsberger has a California license allowing him to posses up to 8 ounces of medicinal cannabis at any time.
The apartment where police made the seizure is leased to his wife, Teryn Richardson, an educator taking part in a New York internship. The plan was for Zugsberger to live in the Thibodaux apartment as a housesitter.
Richardson, who flew home from New York after learning of Zugsberger’s arrest, has a less charitable view of the police action.
She complains of damaged paintings, clothes strewn on the floor and money seized in the raid that belongs to her and has nothing to do with the case.
“They made it look criminal,” Richardson said.
Zugsberger said he and Richardson are suffering dire consequences. He points to a near-empty refrigerator, explaining that they cannot buy food without money.
Normally, in his work as a freelance rock hound and gold-panner in California, he is able to afford whatever he wants, including the marijuana that eases his pain enough to allow the work.
The biggest consequence of the seizure, Zugsberger said, is the pain that continues unabated.
And he cannot leave Louisiana before his July 18 court date.
“I just have to suffer because I can’t go home for treatment,” he said.
He will have to suffer pain until this is settled. Imagine if cops would take cancer patients and stick them in a cell and not allow them medicine? Whether your opinion of medical cannabis, this is inhumane treatment of people who are just looking to relieve pain and suffering of their own body.
And never forget, Louisiana has medical laws on the books, the judges and politicians may want them removed but they are there…
Louisiana law permits some limited use of marijuana if prescribed by a doctor in the state, including treatments for glaucoma and side effects of cancer therapy.
Zugsberger glibly spouts section numbers of various laws here and in California, certain that his situation falls into a loophole somewhere.
He hopes — whether through a trial or pre-trial discussions — to convince a judge to change Louisiana’s stance on medical marijuana.
Asked if he sees himself as a crusader, Zugsberger said no.
“But given the circumstances laid at my feet with this, I will not back down,” Zugsberger said. “I’ll take this to the Supreme Court.”
The state police have put out memos today claiming: “Troopers would like to remind the public that Louisiana does not have a medical marijuana law and that possession of any amount of marijuana is punishable by at least six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.00 for the first misdemeanor offense. ”
This is simply not true, the medical marijuana bill was voted on in 1991, and marijuana taxation laws were enacted in the 70s in Louisiana. People need to wake up and accept the fact that law enforcement only wished to distort the facts regarding medical cannabis, so they can continue to unleash their brutal and tyrannical metyhods of controlling a “drug” that millions use everyday, and Louisiana has already voted for it’s medicinal use. This is ridiculous and proof that society is no longer advancing in regards to scientific fact in light of the state trooper’s propaganda.
here is a quote regarding medical cannabis in Louisiana and despite the state troopers blatant public lies, Louisiana does in fact have laws regarding medical marijuana and it’s use.
As for medical marijuana, Gov. Kathleen Blanco is the latest in a long line of chief executives with a sympathetic ear for the issue. In 1978, former Gov. Edwin Edwards signed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to those suffering from paralysis, glaucoma and cancer. The legislation also established the now-defunct Marijuana Prescription Review Board.
Former Gov. Dave Treen signed into law a similar medical marijuana bill in 1981, as did former Gov. Buddy Roemer 10 years later. While Gov. Mike Foster never saw a prescription marijuana bill land on his desk, he did vote in favor of one as a state senator.
I suggest the state troopers look up these laws and stop telling lies to the public. If the above is correct (it is) that means more than two medical marijuana related laws exist… did them up, ask some questions…
Ask questions like, why was the marijuana taxation board dismantled and never saw the light of day? Plans were in motion for medical marijuana in Louisiana decades, ago, why did it stop? Could it possibly be the big wheels of the alcohol industry that OWNS Louisiana? You can buy beer at the Zoo and Louisiana has DRIVE-THROUGH alcohol serving daquiri shops, but medical cannabis is evil?
“I think there’s a better chance that there will be a stiffening of penalties by the Legislature more than anything else because people want to be tough on crime during an election year, and that’s a shame,” he says. “As long as people want to keep paying for [the imprisonment of lawbreakers], I’m sure (Corrections Secretary) Richard Stalder will keep locking them up.”
The cops just want money for jails and guns… patients need to stand together and focus on this fight. We can win. We have a right to safe access to medical marijuana… even in good ole Louisiana.
Rep. Danny Martiny, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, says it probably won’t come to that, though, unless a rogue lawmaker, liberal judge or district attorney not seeking re-election takes up the charge. He also says he would oppose any move to soften Louisiana’s marijuana laws because that’s what his constituency would want. It’s a defense Martiny says other lawmakers also could easily make.
“I don’t think there are any districts in the state with a real liberal majority that would even allow this to become an issue if their legislator brought it up,” Martiny says. “The political leanings of the state are more to the right, and for the first time in the history of the Legislature, there’s a decent chance Republicans can take over the House, and I can assure you nothing like that would pass if it happens.”
So cancer patients and people who could benefit from medical marijuana will be denied that access because of politicians and the good ole boy mindframe. The citizens of New orleans and Louisiana should be ashamed. In New Orleans you can drink yourself to death (students and deaths from alcohol happen every year in Louisiana) and Bourbon street is known for it’s public nakedness - cops look the other way and don’t arrest naked people in the street - but oh no “marijuana” is such a bad thing. Open your eyes…
