cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Protest Leads to Arrests at White House





Marijuana Protest Leads to Arrests at White House
Posted by CN Staff on September 23, 2002 at 15:32:30 PT
By Todd Zwillich 
Source: Reuters 
Two people were arrested Monday after handcuffing themselves to the White House fence to protest recent federal government raids on "medical marijuana" cooperatives in California. The arrests occurred after about two dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the White House, holding signs and chanting slogans demanding an end to what they see as Bush administration interference with state laws governing marijuana use. 
About an hour after the protests began, US Park Police took a pair of protesters into custody who had bound themselves to the iron barricade separating the White House lawn from Pennsylvania Avenue. "Stop the war on patients. Support the patients by any nonviolent means necessary," protester Charles Thomas said through a bullhorn before being removed and handcuffed by police. Marijuana has become popular with some severely ill patients because of its apparent ability to ease pain and nausea. Some people with AIDS use the drug to help stimulate appetite and fight wasting. Cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis patients may also use marijuana to treat various symptoms. A 1996 state ballot initiative legalized some marijuana use by ill patients in California, as long as they used the drug under the supervision of a doctor who could vouch it was for medically legitimate purposes. Since then, eight other states, including Nevada and Arizona, have passed similar initiatives through legislation or ballot actions. But the Bush administration remains opposed to the measures, saying that federal laws criminalizing marijuana use and distribution supersede individual states' efforts to legalize it in certain circumstances. The US Supreme Court upheld that view in a ruling last year. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has raided several California marijuana pharmacies since 1996, the most recent on September 5, when armed agents raided a medical marijuana collective in Santa Cruz, California. The move sparked protests from patients, activists and local government authorities. Protesters on Monday also held up banners in support of Bryan Epis, a Chico, California marijuana collective operator and patient who was convicted in June of federal felony drug trafficking charges. Epis is due to be sentenced in October and faces a mandatory prison term of at least 10 years. "These raids are unconstitutional. The marijuana is grown in California, it is distributed by Californians and used by California patients," said Eric Sterling, an activist with Washington-based Americans for Safe Access. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine found limited evidence that marijuana's active ingredients may be "moderately well suited" to ease chemotherapy and AIDS symptoms, but that smoking marijuana was an unreliable and potentially harmful way of administering the drug. White House officials backed the raids, saying that medical marijuana initiatives constitute both bad medical practice and an unsafe tolerance of illegal drugs. "We have medications on formulary, approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are effective" for AIDS symptoms or chemotherapy side effects, said Dr. Andrea G. Barthwell, the deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office for National Drug Control Policy. Barthwell maintained that efforts to legalize marijuana for medical purposes also undermine campaigns to stem adolescent recreational marijuana use. A federal survey released earlier this month showed that first-time marijuana use among American teens was at or near its highest levels in 20 years. "If you give them mixed signals such as, 'marijuana is a drug, marijuana is a medicine,' they don't know what to do with that," she said in an interview. Last Thursday, a federal appeals court blocked an attempt to place a medical marijuana initiative on voters' ballots in the District of Columbia. Nearly 70% of voters approved a measure allowing medical marijuana in 1998, but the US Congress prevented it from taking effect. Last week's ruling overturned a lower court decision allowing the new initiative to go forward. "They have to circumvent democracy in this country to protect a failed war on drugs," said demonstrator Adam Eidinger. Source: Reuters Author: Todd Zwillich Published: September 23, 2002Copyright: 2002 Reuters HealthRelated Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.orgAmericans For Safe Accesshttp://www.safeaccessnow.org/Pictures: MMJ Protests - Sept. 23, 2002 http://freedomtoexhale.com/protestpics.htmMedical-Pot Supporters Fight Fedshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14210.shtmlCourt Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14185.shtmlFirst Federal Medical Marijuana Conviction http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13398.shtml
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Comment #18 posted by malleus on September 24, 2002 at 05:04:43 PT
I wondered when they'd crawl out of the sewer
The feds are afraid of having the spotlight of public awareness turned on them. They are so cowardly, they didn't send anyone in to arrest the caregivers at Santa Cruz. They waited until they could quietly move against individuals supporting the dispensation of cannabis there. If they had an icecicle's chance of winning in court, they'd have just arrested Mr. McWilliams. Instead, they are trying Nazi-esque attempts at bluff and intimidation.But this too can backfire. The very fact that a fed had to be undercover and do this shows how scared they are of publicity. I hope Mr. McWilliams has a good lawyer willing to lambaste the feds for their lack of spine in pulling this stunt. You know we are winning when they try to play poker with us. Well, now it's raise or call. And we have lots of cards.
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Comment #17 posted by knox42897 on September 23, 2002 at 22:09:40 PT:
drugs = medicine
If you give them mixed signals such as, 'marijuana is a drug, marijuana is a medicine,' they don't know what to do with that," she said in an interview. Drugs by definition are medicine. Some people need different medication than others. Pretty simple even a child could understand.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 21:56:02 PT
The C-I-R-C-L-E 
Thank you for explaining about who the people are in the picture. I'm so sorry that her cancer has returned. She still could manage a big smile for the picture. http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3087.jpg
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Comment #15 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on September 23, 2002 at 21:46:06 PT
FYI: Sac picture captions
In the Sacramento rally picture 3087.jpg, the Santa Claus on the right and the woman in the middle are two of the prominent doctors in Northern California that recommend medical cannabis. He is Dr. Philip Denney, a wonderful and activist guy. He has now been visited by the local sheriff after being one of the only cannabis doc's to avoid legal troubles.She is Dr. Molly Fry, the target of DEA raids last year who has had her 6,000 patients' medical records stolen by the feds. She also has lost both breasts to cancer (that's how she found out about the efficacy of cannabis) and shortly after the DEA raid (handcuffed face down in the dirt along side her daughter) she was informed the cancer had returned. She will be in surgery again in November. When I talked to her at the rally, she said her past cancer treatments had been sabotaged by her treating doctor, who admitted he gave her substandard treatment because of her outspoken position on herb. He has since been put out of business...
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 20:50:53 PT
Pictures From The Washington D.C. Protest
http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3090.jpghttp://boards.marihemp.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3091.jpghttp://boards.marihemp.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3092.jpghttp://boards.marihemp.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3093.jpghttp://boards.marihemp.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3094.jpg
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Comment #13 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on September 23, 2002 at 18:57:35 PT
Turnout was OK
Not what I expected (or hoped for). Sorry, I was famished. That's why it took so long to answer. I'm gonna run and go see the top of the hour CNN...
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 18:44:18 PT
Video From KCRA
http://cf.ibsys.com/sac/sh/videoplayer/video.cfm?id=1683137&owner=sac
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 18:31:08 PT
Three Pics from The Sacramento Protest
http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3086.jpghttp://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3088.jpghttp://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/drugpolicy/media/3/3087.jpg
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Comment #10 posted by DdC on September 23, 2002 at 18:25:37 PT
Sac Bee Has NO News Yet...archives list...
The Sacramento BeeDIANA GRIEGO ERWIN: Faces at rally tragic truth of medical marijuana patients
Published 4:47 p.m. PDT Monday, September 23, 
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/opinions/story/547690p-4323765c.htmlKFC customer gets errant marijuana
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/nation/story/546866p-4318828c.htmlKFC employee arrested after customer gets pot instead of biscuits
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/4505729p-5525288c.htmlArianna Huffington: A crack house divided
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/national/huffington/story/4435706p-5456831c.htmlAfter Taliban's ouster, marijuana back in season
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/special_reports/terrorism/impact/story/533081p-4219336c.html
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on September 23, 2002 at 18:16:11 PT
Enemies of Democracy
"They have to circumvent democracy in this country to protect a failed war on drugs," said demonstrator Adam Eidinger.That pretty much sums it up. The enemies of democracy have been pulling the strings all along...SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA:The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html unrelated -Mike Ruppert to speak in New Haven & San Francisco!!!
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/events.html9/11 Panel Asks What Briefers Told Bush - 
White House Retreats On Independent Probe: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46446-2002Sep20.htmlMissing in 9/11 hearings: what 2 presidents knew: 
http://www.iht.com/articles/71457.htmlBush Stonewalls on Pre-9/ll Knowledge:     
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1069/11 and The Smoking Gun that Turned On its Tracker -
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KUP209A.htmlThe mystery surrounding the death of John O'Neill:
The Propaganda Preparation for 9/11 -
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KUP206A.htmlPEARL HARBOR:MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES -
http://whatreallyhappened.com/pearl/www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.htmlOperation Northwoods - U.S. Military Drafted Plans to Terrorize U.S. Cities to Provoke War With Cuba:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs_010501.htmlU.S. Policy(It's about the oil)
http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentagon/centcom/chap1/stratgic.htm#USPolicyGulf War general says Iraq invasion 'totally unjustified':
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/22/nirq22.xml/Bush's war plans are a cover-up, Byrd says:
http://www.wvgazette.com/display_story.php3?sid=200209213 
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 17:59:40 PT
The C-I-R-C-L-E 
Thank you for the information. So far I have only seen about the Washington D.C. Protest on CNN and haven't found any articles so far except the one posted above. ( As I was typing this they just showed the D.C. protest again on CNN) Was there a good turnout?
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Comment #7 posted by The C-I-R-C-L-E on September 23, 2002 at 17:45:37 PT
I just got back...
I just got back from Sacramento. Lots of cops. A helicopter or two. Cops on horseback and bicycle and in cars and on foot. Several people apparently got ticketed for smoking pot in public after not being able to produce CA ID or medical documents to back up the claim it was medical use. An RV set up for medicating in nearby was quickly shut down after it became the center of a lot of attention with no one checking to see if it was true patients using it or not. After a slew of speakers, including a passionate Valerie Corral, 4 large puppets were walked out in front of the State Capitol. They each had giant prison suits on and had on the faces (blown up digitally) of: John Walters, John Ashcroft, George Bush, and Asa Hutchinson. The speaker, one of the event staff of the rally, made it clear that these four men are violating the law and are criminals and needed to leave California and she was making a citizen's arrest. We were all to march them down to the federal courthouse building (think 2001: Space Odyssey monolith, but silver instead). Once we got to the federal courthouse we were to "turn them in" and see if the feds would take them.I stayed behind at the capitol, expecting the speakers to continue as planned, but the whole darn mess of folks up and followed the puppets through the streets of Sacramento. Apparently, word came back that at least 20 people were arrested there at the fed building as part of civil disobedience. I believe their crime was SITTING ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS blocking the path. I left soon after to beat traffic out of town. On the way out, I made sure to drive past the federal courthouse building and sure enough - a dark blue hollow-bodied van with tinted windows was parked next to curb, side doors open and someone being shoved inside by a cop. People were still at both rally sites when we left...I'm interested to see what the expected media coverage will say - The Cannabis Information Resource Center Legally EntitledNevada County, CA
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Comment #6 posted by Had Enough on September 23, 2002 at 17:13:19 PT
Civics 101
"If you give them mixed signals such as, 'marijuana is a drug, marijuana is a medicine,' they don't know what to do with that," she said in an interview.If They let WE THE PEOPLE prevail, It will tell the children that unjust and outdated laws can be changed through a demecratic process that a lot of counties do not have. Civics 101.
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Comment #5 posted by Nasarius on September 23, 2002 at 16:53:08 PT
Think of the children!!!
----------------------------------------
"If you give them mixed signals such as, 'marijuana is a drug, marijuana is a medicine,' they don't know what to do with that," she said in an interview.
----------------------------------------Logical fallacy: hypocrisy.
Case in point: morphine, Valium, Xanax, codeine, god knows what else...
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Comment #4 posted by p4me on September 23, 2002 at 16:46:45 PT
Well, that presented one side of the pancake
Those parrots sure are busy talking to the media. Isn't it funny they don't talk to any experts to tell the public of the reasoning of the other side of the pancake.The parrots repeat the propaganda (can you use html tags or not)- ""We have medications on formulary, approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are effective." Well I saw someone on the stature of Joyce Elders, or whoever got run off for Surgeon General on Bill Moyers program, when she said that to qualify as medicine by FDA a substance only has to be better than nothing and I recorded it here at Cnews when my memory was fresh. So why wouldn't marijuana be held to the same standard and why is the quoted statement even relevant? I say the answer to marijuana is it should not be any different than kava kava because it is an herbal remedy. But a more direct answer to why marijuana is held to a different standard is political corruption, plain and simple. The answer to the second part of the question is that the statement is not relevant. It is either medicine or not whether there are other alternatives or not. Now a more telling statement if made by someone on the other side of continued prohibition and its related corruption would read- "We have medications on formulary, approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are effective, and if people would grow their medicine it would affect the profits of companies that make those drugs." Man, maybe we should give the White House Office for National Drug Control Policy credit for telling a half-truth instead of a complete bald-faced lie.I call propaganda.The long article that appeared yesterday at MJ.com is now the lead article titled "Cannabis Forever" at drugwar.com: http://www.drugwar.com/index.shtm. The author has contributed here and now goes by a still recognized and easier to remember name, Doc Zombie.1,2
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 16:06:42 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Here's another article about the warning too.Pot Grower Gets Letter of Warning from DEA: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14191.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 23, 2002 at 16:00:03 PT
CNN Headline News
They just showed the protests on CNN Headline News in Washington, D.C.
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Comment #1 posted by Nuevo Mexican on September 23, 2002 at 15:51:15 PT
McWilliams targeted by DEAth for Santa Cruz Pot!
If what this comment by our esteemed xxdrzombiexx at Cannabis Culture says: 
Feds Tell San Diego Medical Marijuana Patient Steve McWilliams to Destroy His Caregiver GardenDRUGWAR.comSan Diego, Sept. 19:The US Attorney has warned medical marijuana activist Steve McWilliams of the Shelter from the Storm patients' collective to destroy his home marijuana garden or face criminal prosecution.The threat came two days after Mc Williams, a prominent Prop. 215 advocate and member of the city's medical marijuana task force, led a public handout of medical cannabis to patients at city hall. With his partner, nurse Barbara MacKenzie, McWilliams cultivates a modest 30-plant garden in his side yard, from which they grow medicine for themselves and a half dozen other patients for whom they are legal Prop. 215 "caregivers". Among them are a 73-year-old woman with leukemia, a 70-year-old with prostate cancer, and a terminal transplant patient. McWilliams' group has been officially recognized by the city of San Diego as a legal patients' collective in compliance with the city's Prop. 215 guidelines.McWilliams says that a federal undercover agent followed him while he was out shopping and presented him with a letter from U.S. Attorney Carol C. Lam warning him to desist from his activities.
"Federal law enforcement agencies have received information that you are cultivating possessing and distributing marijuana," the letter reads, "Failure to immediately terminate your marijuana growing and distributing activities and to destroy any marijuana plants in your possession... will subject you to federal criminal prosecution, regardless of the provisions of Proposition 215.
"[zombienote: If I am not mistaken, Mr. McWilliams was the individual that had arranged for the medical cannabis plant that provided the medicine for dispensation at Santa Cruz, and he was targeted AFTER that event.
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