Reschedule Cannabis

It is important that the patient’s side of the story be presented and not just the drug war media distortions.

SEATTLE _ Martin Martinez says the small, private collective and outreach group he runs from a storefront are legal, a place for medical-marijuana patients to get help growing the medicine they need to manage their pain.

One of the earliest advocates for what became a voter-approved state medical-marijuana law 10 years ago, Martinez says he hasn’t handed out pot, nor grown any in his cramped office.

But Tuesday afternoon, Seattle police, armed with a search warrant, carted away marijuana and hundreds of private patient files, and tore down a wall in search of a marijuana patch that didn’t exist.

King County prosecutors say the raid was justified. Martinez’s neighbors have been complaining about a pervasive smell of pot, they said, so authorities need to figure out whether Martinez has been breaking the law.

But the episode has Martinez frustrated and his attorney furious. They accuse the police and prosecutors of being overzealous and refusing to honor the law that is supposed to let sick people use pot in peace. At a minimum, Martinez says, the authorities should let the whole thing blow over _ and return his stuff.

I’ve posted about this already, but feel there should be a little more emphasis put on some of the facts, and at least present more quotes from the victim and his attorney.

“We’re trying desperately to be legal, to stay alive and not have these conflicts,” Martinez said. “Science and law have to come to terms, because the doctors are recommending cannabis and the police have got to get on the same page.”

Martinez, 48, suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle accident in 1986. He later became one of the first people in King County to use medical necessity as a defense against prosecution for using marijuana.

In 1998, he helped promote the medical-marijuana initiative that voters approved overwhelmingly. It allows people with certain serious ailments to use marijuana if authorized by a physician.

For the past four years or so, he has operated Lifevine _ a private collective of patients who work together to grow their own medical marijuana _ and Cascadia NORML, a public-outreach organization that provides ID cards to medical-marijuana patients so they can show police that they have a legal right. He said the groups used three different locations in the U District on Northeast 55th Street and never had any problems.

I would like to thank Martinez for his effort.

“I’m just hopping mad,” said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez’s attorney, who arrived at the office during the search and called a deputy prosecutor to try to talk her out of executing the warrant. “It’s stupid and was totally preventable.”

Hiatt said Martinez is “super responsible” and makes sure he follows the letter of the law.

“I’d like for them to give him his stuff back and compensate him for anything they broke,” Hiatt said. “If they decide to go forward with this (and file charges), we’re going to have a real fight.”

Most of the time patients are not breaking any law when they have their doors kicked in, property seized, and harrassed in this manner.

But Mark Larson, the chief criminal deputy for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, said an investigation is warranted to determine whether Martinez was operating within the bounds of the state law.

“We’re certainly aware people have a right to use medical marijuana,” Larson said. “But that doesn’t include dispensing, and it doesn’t include possessing unlimited quantities.”

It has already been stated he was in fact not dispensing marijuana at the facilities, nor did he have “unlimited quantities.” He was within state law. At least the chief criminal deputy acknowledges awareness of “the right to use medical marijuana.”

State laws don’t specify legal amounts or ways medical marijuana can be dispensed to others, he said. The state Legislature last year ordered the Health Department to establish maximum amounts each patient may possess, but the department’s proposals are still being debated.

“We’d love to have these issues clarified so that people who need it get it, and people who operate outside the rules risk prosecution,” Larson said.

So again, how was he breaking laws if state law does not specify his allowance? This is exactly why I have recently begun discussing how much a patient should be allowed to grow. I have personally found that 71 ounces for 2 months is barely enough if you use it in the cooked form, which many prefer because of negative side effects of smoking.

Having 12 ounces of marijuana may last the guy 3-4 weeks depending on how often he uses?

The business owner who complained about the smell said she didn’t know until after Tuesday’s bust that Martinez’s office was being used by medical-marijuana patients.

She said she suspected someone was growing pot in the three-story building, which houses a mix of businesses and apartments.

Isn’t that convenient…

“I’m really sorry. We didn’t want to bother anyone,” he said. “We’re a very private group, which is why it doesn’t say ‘medical marijuana’ on the door.

“We’ve tried to keep to ourselves.” said Martinez

No doubt brother, keep up the good work and stand strong.

Never relent.

The Seattle police who illegally seized files recently have returned the files, but refused to return the patient’s medicine, which is within the legal amount he can possess. Again, he is a legal patient, who can legally carry medical marijuana. These cops should not be able to take his medicine away, which helps him cope with daily pain from motorcycle accident.

Seattle police returned hundreds of patient files and a computer hard drive to Martin Martinez Thursday evening, two days after they raided his University District storefront where he runs a collective and outreach group for medical-marijuana patients.

Prosecutors have told Martinez he won’t face any charges and the investigation is now closed.

“Nothing is going to happen. It’s done,” said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez’s lawyer, who went to the Seattle Police Department Thursday to pick up the files and other belongings.

But police have so far refused to return about 12 ounces of marijuana and two bongs seized during Tuesday’s bust, Hiatt said.

According to Hiatt, a police-department attorney has promised that the drugs and water pipes won’t be destroyed until Hiatt can raise the issue with King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg or take the matter to court.

Let me get this straight, a citizen who is breaking no laws, can have their doors kicked in, have their medicine taken away illegally, computers seized, and then they are the ones who have to fight it in court? This police department should brace itelf for the lawsuit about to come its way. The items should never have been seized in the first place, considering no crime was committed, no one has been charged with a crime, and there is no evidence of any crime taking place. To demand sick and dying patients “take the matter to court” is another way of hurting patients while trying to continue to further the Drug War Policy in the minds of law enforcement and much of the public despite the fact medical marijuana has been voted on, approved, and legalized.

“It’s really the principle — if you have the legal right to have something, the police shouldn’t be able to take it away from you and not give it back,” Hiatt said.

We must fight to stop this abuse of patients by our law enforcement. The police are here to protect and serve us, not abuse us.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Satterberg, confirmed the files’ return and that Martinez would not face criminal charges but referred questions about the seized marijuana to Seattle police, who couldn’t be reached Thursday.

The Police Department couldn’t be reached for comment? They at least confirm no charges will be filed. So again, why seize property and medicine?

Officers (paid for with tax dollars) come in destroy property, steal things and we have to sit back and take it?

But the statement also acknowledges that Martinez, who suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle accident in 1986, “is authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes,” and that the amount of pot seized by police was arguably within the 60-day supply limit the state medical-marijuana law provides.

Seattle police searched Martinez’s office on Northeast 50th Street after neighbors complained of a strong odor of pot in the building. After obtaining a search warrant, they carted off the pot and the files, which included detailed medical histories and medical-marijuana prescriptions. They also broke down part of a wall in search of marijuana plants. They didn’t find any.

Lawsuit time. He is legal under state law, protected under state law. These cops break down walls, take what they want and never have to answer to anyone even though no crime was committed or reported. This is again, based on a cops nose being used to initiate the arrest, harassment, and prosecution of sick and dying patients.

Looks like the police are not protecting and serving in Seattle.

Seattle police seized files on nearly 600 medical marijuana patients when officers searched the headquarters of a patient support group, activists said Wednesday.

The search occurred Tuesday after a nearby police bicycle officer reported the smell of marijuana. Martin Martinez, who runs the Lifevine cooperative as well as Cascadia NORML, the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said no one was arrested but officers seized about 12 ounces of marijuana in addition to the patient files and a computer.

Another case of a cop using his nose to initiate arrests of completely innocent people. If no one was arrested, why did they seize property?

There were no marijuana plants growing there, Martinez said. He is a longtime advocate of legalizing the medical use of marijuana, following a severe motorcycle crash that left him with nerve damage in 1986. Three other patients authorized to use pot under Washington’s medical marijuana law were also present when officers arrived at the office, which does not dispense marijuana, he said.

Again, these patients are authorized for medical marijuana and are breaking no laws.

Cascadia NORML has been issuing identity cards to medical marijuana patients, but before doing so, it requires the patients to provide their medical authorizations for verification. That’s why the patient files were in the office, Martinez said. The cards are not issued pursuant to the state’s medical marijuana law, but are designed to help identify the patient as legitimate if confronted by police.

Some of the nearly 600 patients are now dead, and some others are no longer actively using marijuana, he said.

This fact cannot be overlooked, many of the patient files they illegally seized are in fact for patients who have died. What do they need this for? This is a good program helping sick and dying people, why are the police seizing computer files on these patients? Do cops kick in the doors of dentists and steal their computers and go through their confidential patient file history? This is illegal, to do so under the guise of “eradicating marijuana” is misleading and malicious.

The police “have a heck of a lot of patient records I don’t think they should have,” said Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases. “For one thing, those records are protected under federal privacy laws. If you’re a medical marijuana patient, you don’t want the police to know who you are or where you live, and this is why - because you don’t get treated very well.”

Nice, a lawyer speaking the truth about how patients are treated, and the fact these records should remain private. Again, not to mention the fact these patients were not breaking any state laws. No plants were being grown there.

Under Washington’s medical marijuana law, doctors can authorize patients to have as much as a 60-day supply of marijuana to treat symptoms of AIDS, cancer and other debilitating or chronic conditions. The law doesn’t define what a 60-day supply is, but the state Health Department proposed this month that it be defined as 24 ounces of usable pot, along with six mature plants and 18 immature plants. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

According to Hiatt, the seized documents included patient authorizations, full medical histories, and the names of doctors who authorized the marijuana use.

This is why it is important to learn how California & New York are trying to put an end to this practice - Hault To Prosecuting Patients - by denying tax dollars be used for prosecuting patients and doing this type of illegal activity. Again, they did not arrest anyone because there were no laws being broken, this should not be tolerated or accepted in our society.

These are sick and dying people suffering daily pain, just trying to live a better life - have these police no compassion? Why should tax dollars go to pay cops to arrest the very people that laws were enacted to allow medical marijuana use?

Alison Chinn Holcomb, who follows marijuana issues for the Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that the group was providing or growing marijuana, and no information that has been revealed thus far would seem to justify seizing the patient files.

“These are very sick people with very serious conditions, and we’re sure none of them want the nature of those conditions made available to the public or to anyone who doesn’t have a valid need for it,” she said.

Many patients are dying, and to have them being treated this way is a mockery of what America is supposed to stand for.

This is not freedom. When a people vote for laws, and the cops themselves fight against those laws - who can win? They are the ones with the guns, the patients have doctor bills, not weapons.

More and more politicians, whether it be Senators or Representatives, are changing their mind after meeting with patients who live with daily pain. Many politicians are caught up in the “drug war” mind-frame and have never sat down with patients and really examined the issue from a compassion point of view. As time moves on though, we see compassion and understanding regarding medical marijuana and those who need it daily.

Rep. Jerry McNerney is now willing to vote for an amendment he’d opposed last year that would bar the federal government from spending money to arrest or prosecute medical-marijuana patients in the states — including California — where medical marijuana is legal.

“In the past year, the congressman has met several patients with debilitating illnesses that use doctor-prescribed medical marijuana,” McNerney spokesman Andy Stone said Friday. “Hearing their stories, he feels that he cannot in good conscience deny doctor-prescribed treatment to a person that experiences excruciating pain on a daily basis.”

Asked whether this means McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will vote for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment when it’s brought forward again in the next few weeks, Stone replied, “That’s a fair assumption.”

This is a sign of compassion and we applaud McNerney for taking this stance on this highly controversial topic. Once you get past the propaganda and cops vs drug dealers rhetoric, you will find medical cannabis is a very simple and easily discussed topic, that clearly has pros and cons - but when someone’s daily pain is in question, you have to be willing to look past your own prejudices and consider others. Again, a round of applause for Rep. Jerry McNerney.

“The support for medical marijuana and for the idea that states ought to be able to make these decisions for themselves … has grown every year” since 2004, Bernath said Friday. “So it’s very encouraging that Congressman McNerney has decided to support patients in his area, but I wouldn’t say it’s surprising.”

Public support as well as congress support seems to be growing and we hope it continues. Many people think the Civil War was fought over slavery, but it was actually “state rights” and there are Republicans as well as Democrats and Libertarians who regard state rights as Holy. This debate regarding state rights strikes at the heart of how laws are formed in this country. States have the right to make their own laws, despite Federal Law - it has been that way for a very long time.

A series of judicial defeats — including the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in a case brought by Oakland activist Angel Raich — has had medical-marijuana advocates pinning most of their hopes on Congress. The bipartisan amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill has been introduced in each year since 2003, and takes its name from sponsors Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach. The amendment was defeated in 2007 on a 165-262 vote; it got 163 votes in 2006, 161 votes in 2005, 148 in 2004 and 152 in 2003.

Half of the House’s freshmen Democrats, including McNerney, opposed it last year. But with polls showing Democratic strength in this November’s House elections, it’s possible some now feel they have a bit more cover if they choose to displease a few conservative constituents this year.

Encourage and support those who vote for this.

McNerney last year had issued a statement saying his vote against the amendment was based on his conversations with law enforcement officials about the effect of drug use on his district’s communities, particularly in San Joaquin County. “We are facing a drug crisis with meth and other drug use on the rise. Until we get a handle on the crippling drug use in our society, I cannot support the relaxation of current drug policy,” he said at that time.

Glad to see McNerney has changed his position and has willfully came over to the compassion side of this debate instead of remaining on the side of the irrational. Medical marijuana is gaining support in the government and in the public.

Keep the topic on the minds of our leaders, and never stop pushing for legal and safe access to cannabis in America.

In a symbolic move of East united with West - Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., hope to amend a Justice Department spending bill to forbid use of any money for prosecuting patients using marijuana in states with medical marijuana laws protecting patients. Stopping the use of funds for prosecutions is the best way to stop this abuse of the system.

At least as long as President Bush is in charge, the federal government is unlikely to advance medicine’s use of marijuana. Absent common sense leadership in the White House, Congress should force the Justice Department to abandon prosecutions of possession for medically prescribed marijuana in states that allow the compassionate use of the drug.

Bipartisan sponsors will try to win House approval for a measure to guarantee no such abusive prosecutions in this state and the others with medical marijuana laws. Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., hope to amend a Justice Department spending bill to forbid use of any money for prosecuting patients using marijuana in those states.

As authors of a guest op-ed Tuesday noted, some members of the Washington congressional delegation previously have opposed the measure. A year ago, Reps. Norm Dicks, Doc Hastings, Rick Larsen, Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Adam Smith rejected this assurance to people sick enough to receive marijuana prescriptions. To their credit, Reps. Brian Baird, Jay Inslee and Jim McDermott opposed the wasteful use of federal funds.

In this state, where a people’s initiative has offered compassion for a decade, the minimum expectation should be for every member of the congressional delegation to support the measure. While we wait for more science and less politics on medical marijuana, no patient should fear prosecution.

There is no need to waste millions of dollars prosecution patients who have been told by a doctor they should use marijuana for their pain or suffering. Push forward with this, you have the support of the people.

I think 71 ounces for a two month supply is the perfect amount that should be allowed for those who need medical marijuana. Using the cannabis in its “cooked” form is the best way - safe, and works perfect for nausea when its hard to keep food down in the first place. A good snack made from your favorite medicine aids many patients day in and day out. So in Seattle we are glad to see this amount being brought up - you can easily use this amount when cooking your medicine.

SEATTLE — Many using medical marijuana said the Health Department’s current amount of how much can be possessed legally is too little.

Currently, patients can possess 24 ounces in a 60-day period to relieve pain or nausea, but some users say the rule is too restrictive.

“The 24 ounces is low for the most sick in our society. Those that are eating Cannabis for cancer remission, for example, or for the pain associated with it,” said medical marijuana user Muraco Kyashna-Tocha.

Patients said 71 ounces is how much someone who is in severe pain would have to eat to get as much active ingredients from the plants as they would from a prescription substitute called Marinol.

The state said the final rules won’t be set on medical marijuana until after a public hearing on August 25.

Any medical marijuana patient who uses their medicine daily and throughout the day can easily consume this same amount - it need not be limited to those in “severe pain” - however it is agreed that this is a good amount to allow patients to possess. Many patients choose to use cannabis in its cooked form and stay away from smoking pipes, bongs, or even the doctor recommended vaporizers, especially cancer victims or those suffering from nausea who would like to eat something. There have been numerous reports regarding how effective marijuana brownies are with giving cancer patients not only an appetite, but the desire to lead a more joyful daily existence.

These patients need not just our support, but compassion and our fight should always be for those who need to use this plant daily as medicine. Whether smoking it through a bong, using a vaporizer, or eating “pot brownies” one can easily use 1/2 to 1 ounce of marijuana in a day so this amount of 71 ounces for a two month supply is a perfect place to start on negotiating patient marijuana allowance.

Congressional Leader Conyers asks DEA why are they targeting medical marijuana?

A congressional leader, citing complaints from Bay Area mayors and lawmakers, wants the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain its increased use of “paramilitary-style enforcement raids” and property forfeiture orders against medical marijuana patients and suppliers in California.

With drug trafficking and violence from international cartels on the rise, “do you think the DEA’s limited resources are best utilized conducting enforcement raids on individuals and their caregivers who are conducting themselves legally under California law?” House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a letter to the agency.

He also noted the DEA’s recent tactic of sending letters to hundreds of property owners who rent to medical marijuana dispensaries, advising them that they could be prosecuted and lose their property under federal law.

Property forfeitures, Conyers said, have typically been reserved for “the worst drug traffickers and kingpins” and might have the unintended effect of driving medical marijuana distribution underground. Medical marijuana advocacy groups say the letters have led to evictions and closures of dozens of supply shops that had been operating with state and local approval.

The congressman also asked how much the DEA was spending on the raids.

The letter, dated April 29, was addressed to the DEA’s acting administrator, Michele Leonhart. Agency spokeswoman Rogene Waite declined to comment on the questions Wednesday, saying only that “the federal government does not recognize medical marijuana. … The DEA, of course, would be part of the federal government.”

Conyers attached a copy of a resolution approved by San Francisco supervisors in February, attacking the DEA for “its irrational policy and hysteria” and calling on the city attorney to support property owners facing prosecution or forfeiture for renting to medical marijuana dispensaries. The Los Angeles City Council also has condemned the federal agency’s actions.

Conyers also cited statements by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums criticizing the DEA, and a resolution introduced by state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, urging that Congress pass a law ending federal raids and prosecutions in states that have legalized medical marijuana.

There should be a law ending deferal raids on ALL medical marijuana users not just patients in States who have laws regarding it.

Seattle medical marijuana march info…

Supporters of marijuana for medical purposes plan a rally Saturday in Seattle’s Westlake Park.

The rally in support of the medical use of marijuana will coincide with similar marches in around 200 other cities, organizers said.

Participants are expected to gather at Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill and set off for a 1 p.m. march to Westlake Park in Downtown, a distance of a little more than two miles.

The rally at Westlake Park is scheduled to be held from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The rally comes just two days after musician Timothy Garon, 56, died following a third denial of a liver transplant he needed to survive.

Garon had advanced hepatitis C and had used marijuana with medical approval as part of his treatment regimen. His attorney believes Garon’s marijuana use was the reason a University of Washington Medical Center committee denied the liver transplant.

Denying sick people organs because they use cannabis as medicine?