cannabisnews.com: Come to Sacramento, Lovers of Liberty!





Come to Sacramento, Lovers of Liberty!
Posted by FoM on May 16, 1999 at 09:16:00 PT
From Peter McWilliams!
Source: Peter McWilliams.com
This is the most heartfelt and urgent message I have ever sent you. The most important case yet in the medical marijuana movement is about to begin on May 18, 1999. With today's devastating news, the defendant needs our help.
There is no one thing I can ask you to do, because so many of you are so good at so many things. Please read the letters attached and respond with all you can. If everyone on my list were to send just one letter-to-the-editor of his or her hometown about this case, for example, the trial will get national attention. We made "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" #1. That was fun--but it doesn't mean anything, really. This does. A man's life is at stake. On a larger scale, whether or not the federal government can interfere with the doctor-patient-relationship is being determined here, too. My medical marijuana case will probably be decided along similar lines as this case (the events are parallel), so please, if you said, "When Peter's trial gets closer, I'm going to do something," then, please, NOW is the time to do it. If the defendant in this case (Mr. Smith) is acquitted, my case may be dismissed as well. This means I can return to my medical marijuana to keep down my AIDS medications and get back to healing again. Yes, this means I will miss my day in court. My Lana Turner (the Ross Hunter years) fantasy will have to be sacrificed to good health this time around. Norma Desmond I'm not, and I'm too old to play "Camille." (smile) Please e-mail all the activist organizations you belong to. This is a state's rights issue if there ever was one, so all the true conservatives should be in board. The government's about to put an old sick guy in prison for a ten-year minimum; that should get the compassionate liberals onboard. You know what language and angle your group will need to hear the message best. For example, the Fully Informed Jury Association could not find a better spot to gain national attention. If ever there was a case the screamed out for jury nullification, this is it. Or, the Libertarian Party might call an emergency relocation of the Party's headquarters to Sacramento, there being available to the press and do teach-ins on a variety of issues, such as jury nullification and drug regulation. (Fellow Libertarians, come to Sacramento! And Cato Institute: come along, too!) Almost any freedom-loving organization can find a way to highlight this trial and educate the public about its particular focus of freedom at the same time. Come to Sacramento. Please do what you can to publicize this trial. Please e-mail all your favorite publications, programs (both radio and television), web sites, and chat rooms, explaining why coverage of this trial is important. This Sacramento federal trial is no less than the Gettysburg in the War on Drugs. (The lead defense attorney is West Point graduate, Tom Ballanco. The Judge and Mr. Smith are Vietnam veterans.) Let's challenge General McCaffrey to come to Sacramento and fight for the hearts and minds of the American people. The people in California have already decided--in November 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. General McCaffrey, how about a debate between you and Mr. Ballanco on Larry King, Nightline, 20/20, Dateline? Folks, get those e-mails flowing! General McCaffrey, sir: a decisive battle in the War on Drugs is being fought next week. It is a peaceful battle. It is, in fact, a battle for peace. Peace on drugs. Come, defend your position, sir. You will receive a cordial, open, and fair forum. General McCaffrey, come to Sacramento. What a wonderful time for your to set a whole new course in American drug policy--one of regulation, not prohibition; education, not propaganda. This will be the trial people will talk about years to come, as they do Roe vs.. Wade. Any freelance writers among you looking for a story? Go cover the trial. (Now, really, wouldn't you have liked to have been at the Scopes trial?) Have you ever said, "I want to go somewhere some day and protest against the government's interfering with patient's right to use marijuana as well as the way the government is invading our lives more and more each day"? Well, if so, this is the day. If you ever said, "I wish I had the chance to have marched with King in Selma," then come to Sacramento. Protest in front of the Capitol building, home of California attorney General Bill Locker. He could, at the very least, file a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Mr. Smith. At best, he could ask for the prisoner to be handed over to California medical jurisdiction, and declare that where medicine is concerned, state law supercedes federal law. Period. Mr. Smith is a devout born-again-Christian. Christians of all denominations are welcome to come and support a brother in Christ. However you feel about medical marijuana, a brother is in trouble and in need of you ministry. Didn't Jesus say, "I was in prison and you came to visit me," as an example of doing unto the least of these, which meant doing unto Jesus Himself? Christians, come to Sacramento. It is Spring in Sacramento, California. The weather is beautiful this time of year and inexpensive motel rooms are just outside of town. Sacramento is really a medium-to-small-sized town in the middle of the most glorious farm country in the world. Nature's abundance is in every direction. No matter from which way you approach Sacramento, it's a lovely drive through mile after mile of green fields--like Oz, I suppose. Sacramento is a friendly town. But, please, everyone be on your best behavior. We're here to support someone who may spend life in prison for treating his illness. It is hardly an occasion for a celebration. Our cause has the support of more than 65 percent of American public. We have the winning hand. We can afford to be polite, tolerant, and good-natured, as we help codify the will of the American people. Alas, I'm not well enough to travel, and even if I were, I can't go north of Santa Barbara as a condition of my bail release. So be there for me. Stand up for me. I can cheerlead from the sidelines. Let's make Sacramento the impromptu gathering place for all those who value the Constitution, liberty, and religious freedom. If you'd like to go and need to summon the necessary enthusiasm, click here:http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/doit/ If you have money, give it. I've never asked for money for myself (except a few select friends and, of course, my mother, bless her), but I am asking you to donate to this defense. Sponsor other people to come with you to Sacramento. Bring all your friends. Make it a spontaneous vacation. Oh, yes, and please send money to Mr. Smith's Defense Fund. The attorneys on this case are representing Mr. Smith for next to nothing. They are there because they believe in the cause of personal liberty. With money, they can more effectively present the case to the jury and the press, as well as be prepared for immediate appeals if necessary. This case may wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court. So, please, come to Sacramento. If you clicked the link above, you want to go. Remember the description of the link? "If you'd like to go and need to summon the necessary enthusiasm, click here:" You can make it happen. Check the tires on the car. Make airline reservation. Come to Sacramento. Jury selection begins this Tuesday. Come to Sacramento. Send me e-mail reports from the local Kinko's. I'll send them around to those who are anxiously following the events on the Internet and national television and donating lots of money. And as the Battle Hymn of the Republic swells in the background, I turn you over to the attorneys in the case, who will give you news of the latest outrages. What has been written up to here is entirely my own doing and I am personally responsible for all of it. I discussed this matter with no one prior to sending this to my general e-mail list. This is a personal request from me alone. I represent no group or no other person or persons. This is a recording. Charge! Enjoy, Peter McWilliams! Saturday, May 15, 1999 5:34 PM Subject: Sound the Alarm Dear Friends, Please circulate this press release far and wide. It is just a generic one, please feel free to add to or change it anyway you like. As many of you already know, Judge Burrell has denied every one of our defenses and has prohibited us from mentioning Prop. 215, though that is obviously the central issue in the case. Our only hope at this point lies in the Californians who will comprise the jury (the judge has also denied us the ability to conduct voir dire of prospective jurors, he will ask all the questions). We need a packed courtroom and we need the press to make sure that B.E. does not go quietly into the night. We also need the prayers and good intentions of all who care, united we stand. . . . You are the Paul Reveres out there Thanks for your help, Tom, B.E. and Booker News Story Found By Cryote!Thanks Cryote!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 16, 1999 at 09:50:31 PT
Follow Up To Above Story!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE VIETNAM VETERAN ON TRIAL IN FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE TO GO TO FEDERAL JURY TRIAL SINCE PASSAGE OF CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 215 DATE: May 18, 1999   9:00 A.M. LOCATION: U.S. District Court Sacramento, CA (5th/I St.) Jury selection begins today in a case so contentious that defense attorneys have twice asked for U.S. District Court Judge Garland Burrell to recuse himself. [Burrell gained notoriety as the judge who presided over the prosecution of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.] During the last pretrial hearing, Burrell ordered U.S. Marshall's to forcibly remove defense counsel from the podium. Defendant B.E. Smith is charged with cultivation of marijuana in violation of federal law. Smith, a Vietnam veteran who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, treats his anxiety with medical marijuana under his doctor's orders. In June 1997, he planted a small medical marijuana garden on land he leased in the backwoods of Trinity County California. Smith, an outspoken advocate of medical marijuana notified state and local authorities and appeared on national television before planting his garden. State authorities declined to prosecute Smith because of his compliance with the parameters of California Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. Instead the case was turned over to law enforcement officers of the U.S. Forest Service, a federal agency, so that Smith might be prosecuted under federal law which, the government maintains, is not effected by Prop. 215. The U.S. Government is seeking to make an example out of Smith to discourage others from attempting to implement Proposition 215. Smith's case is bolstered by the release last month of the National Institute of Health Institute of Medicine Report that found medical marijuana to be an effective remedy in treating a variety of ailments including stress, anxiety and loss of appetite. Smith expects to call country music star Merle Haggard and actor Woody Harrelson, both long-time friends and admirers, as witnesses during the trial. CONTACTS: B.E. Smith 916-649-1300 x 322 Thomas J. Ballanco, esq. [Atty. for B.E. Smith] 916-649-1300 x 1421 Robert L. Booker, esq. [Atty. for B.E. Smith] 916-649-1300 x 1421 R. Steven Lapham, esq. [Ass't. U.S. Atty.] 916-554-2724 	
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