DrugSense FOCUS Alert #133 October 26, 1999 Boston Globe Tells Peter McWilliams Story Without Compromising TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS FOCUS ALERT PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE Often when the mainstream press covers the issue of medical marijuana, reporters seem to feel obligated to present the prohibitionist contention that medical marijuana is a "hoax." The Boston Globe shattered that mold this week with a remarkable story (below) about Peter McWilliams, the heroic author and activist who is being denied the medical marijuana that helped him cope with AIDS and cancer. (To learn more about Peter and his trial visit his websites http://www.petertrial.com and http://www.mcwilliams.com) Peter hasn't been allowed to use the medicine he swears by for more than a year, and the author of the Globe story shows the harsh consequences. No where in the story does anyone question whether marijuana is really medicine; it is a given. The spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office prosecuting Peter argues callously that Peter's life is less important that federal laws. "It doesn't matter if they say, `I'm doing this to save my life.' It's illegal to manufacture or cultivate marijuana under federal law," according to the spokesman. Please write a letter to the Boston Globe congratulating the paper on this excellent piece, and also to protest the cruelty and injustice that Peter is suffering. WRITE A LETTER TODAY Just DO it! PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the MAPTalk list if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. CONTACT INFO Source: Boston Globe (MA) Contact: Pubdate: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. Page: Front Page Contact: Address: P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378 Feedback: http://extranet1.globe.com/LettersEditor/ Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Author: Lynda Gorov, Globe Staff Cited: Peter McWilliams: http://www.petertrial.com/ http://www.mcwilliams.com/ US PROSECUTES CANCER PATIENT OVER MARIJUANA By now, vomiting is second nature to Peter McWilliams. He has no shame about it. Sometimes he even sees the humor in it. McWilliams, 50, still laughs about the time he leaned over a trash can at a political convention, lost his lunch in front of strangers, then casually wiped his mouth with a cocktail napkin before continuing the conversation. The other day, at his home high in the Hollywood Hills, he simply shrugged when he returned from retching in the bathroom. ''You get used to vomiting,'' he said. ''You get used to anything, I suppose. But it's insane that anyone has to go through this.'' McWilliams, who has AIDS and cancer that is in remission, said he and his doctor know the solution to his suffering: medical marijuana. He said he knows from experience that it helps him keep down the powerful drugs he needs to survive and the food he needs to keep up his strength. Without it, the book publisher and best-selling author fears he will die. But for more than a year, McWilliams has been barred from smoking marijuana while he awaits trial on a variety of marijuana-related charges. He says he was growing it for his own consumption, and had not used it for more than 20 years until he became ill. Federal prosecutors charge that he was conspiring to sell it along with his codefendants, all of them users of medical marijuana. Either way, McWilliams's situation underscores the ongoing conflict between the state and federal governments over the use of marijuana by patients with AIDS, cancer, or chronic pain - despite some medical studies and much anecdotal evidence showing its palliative benefits. California voters became the first to approve medical marijuana for patients with a doctor's approval in November 1996 - the same year McWilliams discovered a lump in his neck and learned he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and AIDS. Washington followed last fall, and several states are considering similar measures. But the federal government maintains that the sale or distribution of marijuana remains illegal under all circumstances. ''The laws against medical marijuana are crazy in the first place,'' said state Senator John Vasconcellos, a Democrat who has led the charge to legalize medical marijuana and keep it legal in California. ''But to say that people who are dying of cancer and AIDS can't relieve their pain is awful. By denying Peter McWilliams the right to smoke marijuana while he's out on [$250,000] bail, they're denying him life.'' McWilliams's trial is still a month away. For now, he is mostly confined to his home, relying on friends to bring him the milk he gulps by the glassful and the honey-roasted peanuts he eats by the fistful because they do not make him nauseated. Unable to work, McWilliams finds his Prelude Press bordering on bankruptcy. Unable to walk even short distances, he uses a wheelchair for court appearances. The other day, his face dripping sweat, he nodded off in the hallway while inside the courtroom where his hearing was being postponed. Of the first time he smoked marijuana after chemotherapy, McWilliams said, ''I had this epiphany: 'Oh my God, this stuff really works.' Then I got mad, furious, thinking about all the millions of cancer patients who this could be helping.'' Repeatedly turned down by a federal judge who says he cannot authorize someone to break the law, McWilliams now hopes a federal appellate court, which recently ruled that seriously ill people should be allowed to use medical marijuana, will give him access to the only drug that he has found to keep his nausea under control. Other defendants in federal marijuana cases are expected to mount similar appeals based on the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. To federal prosecutors, however, McWilliams's case has nothing to do with medical marijuana and everything to do with a drug ring, regardless of why the defendants were growing the plants or who was using them. McWilliams is accused of masterminding the plot, in part because of the $120,000 that McWilliams says he paid codefendant Todd McCormick, a medical marijuana patient and researcher, to write two books on the subject. If convicted, they could face life in prison. ''We all admit to what we've done,'' said McWilliams, who previously bought marijuana on the black market or at the cannabis clubs that had sprung up around California after the passage of the law known as Proposition 215. ''We all grew marijuana; we all used marijuana,'' he continued. ''The 300 plants I had were my own personal stash ... Todd was studying which strains work best for which types of illnesses. I mean all his plants were labeled.'' But federal prosecutors say that is no defense. In fact, they do not want the defendants to be able to introduce a medical-necessity defense, discuss the benefits of marijuana, or even mention Proposition 215 to jurors. Both sides are scheduled to argue their positions next week before US District Court Judge George King. ''The way that I characterize this case is that it involves a conspiracy to conduct a commercial marijuana-growing operation involving more than 6,000 plants at four separate growing sites,'' said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, which is handling the case. ''It doesn't matter where they were going to sell it. It doesn't matter if they say, `I'm doing this to save my life.' It's illegal to manufacture or cultivate marijuana under federal law.'' If prosecutors succeed in keeping those issues out of court, McWilliams's attorney, Thomas Bollanco, said the defendants may as well head straight to prison. Without medical necessity, they have no case. ''We're going to be left unable to answer to the charges because we can only answer with what's true, and what's true is that these guys were motivated by their medical needs and Prop 215,'' said Bollanco, who recently lost a federal jury trial in Sacramento in which the judge refused to allow a medical necessity defense. Yet even on a state level, the answer to the medical marijuana debate remains murky. Lacking clear-cut guidelines, law enforcement officials in some jurisdictions actively pursue arrests, others tend to look the other way. Last year, a task force including advocates and opponents worked to craft a compromise. This year, the resulting bill was tabled. Faced with federal opposition, California Governor Gray Davis has resisted giving it his approval. But California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, unlike his predecessor, appears to favor the voters' decision to allow the use of medical marijuana, although he has called Prop 215 poorly written and open to too much interpretation. This month, he urged US Attorney General Janet Reno to let the appellate court ruling stand. Possibly turned off by the number of marijuana plants involved - or by McWilliams' admitted eccentricities - few have rallied around his case and some have turned against him. He insisted he is hurt but not angry or surprised by his isolation. After his arrest, McWilliams spent almost a month in jail until he could raise the money to post bail. ''I am the representative of all the sick people and what they are doing to me is only the worst case right now, but there will be others,'' McWilliams said. ''I am living on borrowed time anyway. I owe this part of my life to luck and modern medical science. But I can't imagine what the rest of it will be like if they won't let me use medical marijuana.'' SAMPLE LETTER (sent) Dear editor, Thank you for Lynda Gorov's informative article about medical marijuana patient and federal criminal defendant Peter McWilliams. I first became aware of this heroic figure on July 4, 1998 when I was awakened by a speech he was giving on C-Span, addressing the Libertarian Party in Washington, D.C. As a medical marijuana patient myself, having used it to prevent epileptic seizures since 1980, I was overjoyed to see somebody wave a joint around in front of the C-Span cameras. It wasn't difficult to contact Peter. That same day I performed a simple keyword search of his name on the Internet, quickly found his websites and his e-mail address and heard back from him before bedtime. That was only a few weeks before his bust. After his bust, I purchased a copy his best-selling book, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" and was not disappointed by the hype. It is a wake-up call alerting us of the extreme extent to which our desire to live "safely" has endangered our liberty. As an outspoken member of a conscientiously-dissenting minority, Peter McWilliams is the victim of political persecution. He is a victim of a tyrannical majority which our Founding Fathers anticipated when they conceived the Bill of Rights. Larry A. Stevens IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm Prepared by Stephen Young - http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily Focus Alert Specialist

Focus Alert Archive