Convictions upheld for medical pot-growing couple

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(11-08) 17:54 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court upheld the drug convictions and five-year prison sentences Monday of two Northern California medical marijuana activists who grew pot for themselves and their fellow patients.

Attorney Dale Schafer began growing marijuana for his wife, physician Marion "Mollie" Fry, on their property in the town of Cool (El Dorado County) in 1998. She had secured a doctor's recommendation for the drug to ease the effects of chemotherapy following breast cancer surgery.

Schafer later started using medical marijuana for back pains and other ailments. The couple began distributing the drug to other patients in 1999 and contacted sheriff's deputies, who let them continue under California's medical marijuana law.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/BAA51G906B.DTL

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Wonder how the case would've turned out if Prop 19 passed?

[chill_wind]

1. 5 years! And meanwhile torturers and war criminals live and breathe free

along with plenty of white collar criminal bankster scum and scammers defrauding the courts and stealing peoples' homes.....

Incredible that we can be so on top of these chicken-shit prosecutions-- meanwhile the rogue U.S. government can destroy 92 torture tapes and let the statutes expire (yesterday) and justice is no where to be seen.

Will we ever crawl back out of the dark ages in this country?

:nuke:

[earcandle]

2. Sucks huh? When America the beautiful is the enemy.

[glitch]

13. Infuriating and humiliating to be among such ignorance.

Utterly despicable to prosecute these people, worse to convict them, loathsome to uphold their convictions. Filthy.

[w4rma]

3. Bad ruling. (nt)

[Bennyboy]

4. 4 years longer than that murdering BART cop got

Something wrong with this picture.

Tell me again why we are not rioting?

[defendandprotect]

5. Drug War is true insanity ... and THIS would be something worthwhile to work on....

and to overturn--!!!

[boppers]

6. Such humanitarians!

"Schafer said the couple ran a humanitarian enterprise that served more than 10,000 patients from 1999 to 2005. But prosecutors said the couple collected between $750,000 and $1 million in fees for marijuana recommendations during the two years and two months covered by the charges."

This likely would have been illegal under Prop 19, as well, as this is a commercial, for profit, grow operation.

[Webster Green]

7. Prosecutors lie regularly.

These ones are fucking pigs. Why would you believe them?

Free the herb!

[boppers]

8. Well, that could have been a defense.

Of course, when you're nailed with over 100 plants, it might not be an *effective* defense.

[Le Taz Hot]

10. More plants are needed

(and allowed under our MM law) if one is growing for use as edibles. The type of license determines how much you can grow legally, well, in terms of state law, anyway. Obama/Holder? Apparently they believed "Reefer Madness."

Edited for punctuation.

[boppers]

18. How do you fit that in 25 square feet?

No way I could grow 100 plants under prop 19.

[Webster Green]

12. 100 plants is not that much.

At any rate, the law is absurd. Putting patients in prison for growing an extremely beneficial plant?

The anti-cannabis laws were and are based on complete bullshit presented to congress by lying narco-pigs.

[druidity33]

16. divide $750,000 by 10,000...

and you get $75 per bag. In 2 years "10,000" patients (more like 10,000 purchases) amounts to about 12 or 13 people a day stopping by for a bag. Entirely reasonable if you are a MMJ provider. And if that $75 is for an ounce (even a half ounce)... i WOULD call these folks humanitarians! It's not free to run a market garden/farm you know. It also takes a lot of labor that should be compensated for.

Oh, i could go on...

:)

[druidity33]

17. under Prop19 who knows?

But apparently they had been following State Laws and were assured by local Police that what they were doing was legal. Then they find out the local police have been working undercover to secure a Federal conviction! How nifty!

:eyes:

[clixtox]

9. Aren't we all feeling more secure now!

Excuse me for writing for everyone but this sort of travesty is too common now.

In so many ways, we are our own worst enemies.

These folks, right or wrong, are being thrown into prison by us, you and me and our families and friends.

For what? An innocuous, completely safe plant with mild euphoric effects, among others, when smoked or eaten.

What a waste! Just stupid in every possibly conceivable way.

That's our "Justice" Department in action!

No justice, just sowing fear and intimidation in furtherance of controlling us and our minds.

Everything about this situation is sad, useless and ultimately repressive.

[Democat]

11. Obama should pardon them!

But he won't.

[Rage for Order]

15. +1

Time to step up and end the injustice, Obama. Show us that you're truly an agent of change.

[sarcasmo]

14. Kick! Legalize it NOW! Stop the drug cartels.

[happi1]

19. when

How did we get here?

I am a lot younger than most of you. How the hell did we get here? This is insane. We can gripe about the Judge Rotenberg Center or waterboarding...I don't even know anymore. Hug for everybody here/ : (