Medical cannabis patient, Freedom Fighter, and author of the book Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do Peter McWilliams died in his home on Wednesday, June 14. He was 50 years of age. He apparently died from suffocation on his own vomit. He had typically controlled severe nausea, from AIDs and cancer medications, through the use of cannabis. However, under conditions of his bail, he had to pass regular drug screenings or his mother would lose her house, which she put up for his bail of $250,000. The denial of cannabis as a medicine by the courts led him to develop a rigorous daily routine, which consisted of many hours of lying in bed, that enabled him to keep down the numerous pills he had to take, pills that cause violent nausea in 40 percent of the population. [continues 312 words]
Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author of self-help books who fought for the medicinal use of marijuana, died June 14 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 50 and had AIDS and AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mr. McWilliams caught the crest of the wave of the personal-computer revolution with his highly successful "The Word Processing Book: A Short Course in Computer Literacy" (Prelude Press, 1982). But he gained attention in recent years by advocating, in print and in court, the legalization of marijuana. His book "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society" (Prelude Press, 1993), which made his case for drug legalization, became a libertarian manifesto. And his arrest in 1997 for growing marijuana became a test of judicial tolerance in California. At his death, Mr. McWilliams was waiting to be sentenced in federal court after being convicted of having conspired to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana. He and co-defendant, Todd McCormick, were accused of growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants. [continues 366 words]
Editor: New York Times best-selling author and publisher Peter McWilliams was literally killed by the federal government in the name of the war on marijuana. Peter's books sold more than 2 million copies, including: "Getting over the loss of a loved one;" How to heal depression," Life 101 and other best sellers. Peter had cancer and AIDS. In 1997, he financed professional gardener and cancer patient Todd McCormick to write a book on various strains of medical marijuana plants for diverse illnesses. McCormick was arrested in 1997. [continues 128 words]
Last Wednesday, Peter McWilliams was found dead in his bathroom. Some maintain that it was murder, plain and simple. The question is, who was responsible for his death? McWilliams was afflicted with the cancer of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and with AIDS. To treat his illness, he had to take so many pills that nausea and constant vomiting made it impossible for him to keep down his expensive medication. The only treatment that McWilliams found effective in controlling his nausea was medical marijuana. Since the diagnosis of his cancer in March 1996, he was able to keep his illness in check with medication by controlling his nausea with marijuana. It kept him alive. [continues 513 words]
Peter McWilliams is dead Age? Fifty. Profession? Author, poet, publisher. Particular focus of interest? The federal judge in California (George King) would decide in a few weeks how long a sentence to hand down, and whether to send McWilliams to prison or let him serve his sentence at home. What was his offense? He collaborated in growing marijuana plants. What was his defense? Well, the judge wouldn't allow him to plead his defense to the jury. If given a chance, the defense would have argued that under Proposition 215, passed into California constitutional law in 1996, infirm Californians who got medical relief from marijuana were permitted to use it. The judge also forbade any mention that McWilliams suffered from AIDS and cancer and got relief from the marijuana. [continues 412 words]
The drug war claimed another victim last week when author, publisher and activist Peter McWilliams died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 50. Perhaps ironically, he died the same day Gov. Ben Cayetano of Hawaii signed a medical marijuana bill passed by the state legislature - making Hawaii the first state in the country to authorize the medicinal use of marijuana through the legislature rather than by a vote of the people. An author whose computer how-to books several times made The New York Times best-seller list, and whose "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" is destined to be a modern classic, Mr. McWilliams contracted AIDS and cancer a few years ago. He found that marijuana was the best way to control the nausea brought on by both AIDS and cancer treatments and to restore his appetite. He gave writer and patient Todd McCormick a large advance to finance a research project into the medicinal qualities of different strains of marijuana for a book after California's Proposition 215 passed in 1996, which allows use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. When McCormick was arrested, Mr. McWilliams came to his defense, explained that he had financed the project - and got a federal indictment as a "drug kingpin." [continues 167 words]
Editor, Index-Tribune: This could happen in Sonoma! New York Times best selling author and publisher Peter McWilliam's was literally killed by the federal government in the name of war on marijuana. Peter's book sold over 2 million copies, including: "Getting Over the Loss of a Loved One;' How to Heal Depression,' "Life 101' and other best sellers. Peter had cancer and AIDS. In 1997 he financed professional gardener and cancer patient Todd McCormick to write a book on various strains of medical marijuana plants for diverse illnesses. McCormick was arrested in 1997. [continues 192 words]
Perhaps the word "murder" is too strong. But there is little question that author and publisher Peter McWilliams died in large part because of an overdose of government -- one that could have been ameliorated by several specific people at specific times during the process of his interaction with what some call the justice system. His early death at the age of 50 was morally attributable -- whether or not it would be appropriate or useful to have formal charges filed or not -- to the federal government, War on Drugs branch. [continues 1443 words]
"The Drug War doesn't need another martyr," Peter McWilliams wrote last November. "It has too many already." McWilliams, a best-selling author and activist who was arrested on federal marijuana charges in 1998, was explaining his decision to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court. Mercy was not something that U.S. District Judge George King seemed to have in abundance. King had prohibited McWilliams, who used marijuana to fight the nausea caused by his AIDS medications, from presenting a "medical necessity" defense at his trial in Los Angeles. [continues 656 words]
The June 16 wire service story on the death of Peter McWilliams neglected to mention that he died in his bathroom -- choking on his own vomit. This piece of information is crucial in light of the other facts mentioned in the article. McWilliams was a medical marijuana patient who suffered severe nausea because of chemotherapy treatment for his AIDS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Marijuana alleviated the nausea, but McWilliams could not use the drug because the federal government refused to recognize California law. Instead, it arrested and tried this seriously ill man as a drug kingpin. At times like these, I am ashamed of my own government. The feds killed Peter McWilliams by denying him the right to control his nausea through the use of marijuana. Kenji Klein [end]
Peter McWilliams is dead. Age? Fifty. Profession? Author, poet, publisher. Particular focus of interest? The federal judge in California (George King) would decide in a few weeks how long a sentence to hand down, and whether to send McWilliams to prison or let him serve his sentence at home. What was his offense? He collaborated in growing marijuana plants. What was his defense? Well, the judge wouldn't allow him to plead his defense to the jury. If given a chance, the defense would have argued that under Proposition 215, passed into California constitutional law in 1996, infirm Californians who got medical relief from marijuana were permitted to use it. The judge also forbade any mention that McWilliams suffered from AIDS and cancer, and got relief from the marijuana. [continues 686 words]
THE CASE OF PETER MCWILLIAMS (1949-2000). Ushering in outbreaks of hysteria, Peter McWilliams, best-selling author and medical-marijuana activist, died on Wednesday. Some -- mostly libertarians -- are freely tossing around the word "murder" to describe the federal government's role in the 50-year-old McWilliams' passing. "What the federal government did is nothing less than cold-blooded, premeditated murder," charged Steve Dasbach, the national director of the Libertarian Party. Before we consign such talk to the Vince Foster lunatic fringe, perhaps some background would be appropriate. Unless otherwise noted, the quotes that follow are selected from three columns on the deceased crusader by the hardly hysterical William F. Buckley Jr. [continues 598 words]
Medical Marijuana Saves Lives Last Wednesday, author turned medical marijuana advocate Peter McWilliams was found in his California home, choked to death on his own vomit. After being arrested for selling marijuana to medical buyers' clubs, McWilliams was barred from using California's Prop. 215 (which legalized medical marijuana in that state) as a defense in his federal trial. He was forced to plead guilty and sentenced to a parole that denied him the right to use the only medicine that allowed him to stomach a powerful cocktail of AIDS and cancer drugs: marijuana. [continues 246 words]
LOS ANGELES - Peter McWilliams, 50, a best-selling author who advocated the medicinal use of marijuana, died June 14 at his home here. He had AIDS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At his death, he was awaiting sentencing in federal court on a charge of conspiring to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana. He and co-defendant Todd McCormick were arrested in 1997 after law enforcement officers raided an estate where the two allegedly were growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants. [continues 231 words]
LOS ANGELES -- Peter McWilliams, best-selling author and medical marijuana advocate, has died, friends said Friday. Mr. McWilliams, 50, had been awaiting sentencing in August on federal charges of growing marijuana for sale. No cause of death was listed, but he suffered from AIDS and Hodgkin's lymphoma. He admitted cultivating marijuana for sale in a 1999 plea agreement and gave a nationally televised speech at the 1998 Libertarian National Convention. "Peter McWilliams was a true hero who fought and ultimately gave his life for what he believed in: the right to heal oneself without government interference," said California Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle. According to a biography on his Web site, Mr. McWilliams began his career as an author at 17, writing poetry books. He went on to publish the best-selling "Surviving the Loss of Love" in 1971 and a series of self-help books, "Life 101." [end]
Peter McWilliams, 50, a proponent of marijuana for medical use who was awaiting sentencing on drug charges, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He had cancer and was suffering from AIDS, according to a statement from Libertarian Party supporters. McWilliams was to be sentenced in August for conspiring to grow and sell marijuana to cannabis clubs. [end]
An Indictment, Not an Obituary Peter McWiliams, 50, best selling author, poet, photographer, publisher, libertarian crusader, medical marijuana activist, AIDS patient and cancer survivor, was found dead on the floor of his bathroom, apparently having choked to death after vomiting, for want of medical marijuana. There will be an autopsy, but whatever the immediate cause of death may have been, he was murdered by the United States Government as surely as if they shot him. Indeed, it would have been much more humane if they had just put a bullet in his head. No one should have to go through what he suffered at the hands of his country. [continues 2251 words]
Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author who advocated the medicinal use of marijuana, died Wednesday at his Laurel Canyon home after a long battle with AIDS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At his death, the 50-year-old McWilliams was awaiting sentencing in federal court on a charge of conspiring to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana. McWilliams and co-defendant Todd McCormick were arrested in 1997 after law enforcement officers raided a Bel-Air estate where the two men were allegedly growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants. [continues 290 words]
LOS ANGELES - Peter McWilliams, an outspoken proponent of medical marijuana use who was awaiting sentencing on drug charges, has died. He was 50. McWilliams, who died Wednesday in his Laurel Canyon home, had cancer and was suffering from AIDS, according to a statement from Libertarian Party supporters. An autopsy to determine the cause of death was incomplete pending results of toxicology tests, said Lt. Dan Aiken, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office. McWilliams was scheduled to be sentenced in August for conspiring to grow and sell marijuana to cannabis clubs. He pleaded guilty after a federal judge forbade him to use California's state medical marijuana law as a defense. [continues 129 words]
LOS ANGELES -- Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author who advocated the medicinal use of marijuana, died Wednesday at his Laurel Canyon home after a long battle with AIDS and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. At his death, the 50-year-old McWilliams was awaiting sentencing in federal court on a charge of conspiring to possess, manufacture and sell marijuana. McWilliams and co-defendant Todd McCormick were arrested in 1997 after law enforcement officers raided an estate where the two men allegedly were growing more than 4,000 marijuana plants. [continues 254 words]
