cannabisnews.com: Pot Grower's Verdict Irks Marijuana Activists Pot Grower's Verdict Irks Marijuana Activists Posted by CN Staff on January 16, 2004 at 12:46:50 PT By The Associated Press Source: Associated Press Olympia -- A verdict against an admitted Olympia pot grower is drawing fire from medical marijuana advocates.In a verdict Wednesday, Thurston County Superior Court jurors convicted Monica Ginn, 53, of growing and distributing marijuana, and decided she qualifies for a more severe sentence because her growing operation was within 1,000 feet of a designated school bus stop. She faces up to five years in jail, but her attorneys promised to appeal the case as high as the Washington Supreme Court.Kevin Johnson, Ginn's attorney, said the verdict was a foregone conclusion because Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee forbade him from using Washington's medical marijuana law as a defense, saying Ginn's condition wasn't well enough documented."With that gutted, there's basically no defense," Johnson said. "I think the verdict was a foregone conclusion."Patients must have a terminal or debilitating medical condition to qualify for medical marijuana under a state law enacted by voters in 1998.The jury's verdict Wednesday could make it harder for patients who need marijuana to alleviate pain, advocates said."It sends chills down our spines," said Martin Martinez, director of the Seattle-based Lifeline Foundation. "Many of these people have been living in fear for many years, and this only reinforces that fear."Information from: The OlympianComplete Title: Pot Grower's Verdict Irks Medical Marijuana ActivistsSource: Associated Press Published: Friday, January 16, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Article & Web Site:Green Cross Patient Co-ophttp://www.hemp.net/greencross/ Grower Found Guilty in Medical Marijuana Case http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18141.shtmlWoman's Aim To Use Pot Law Rebuffed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18134.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #23 posted by FoM on January 31, 2004 at 12:02:32 PT Related Article from The Associated Press Pot Grower Sentenced To Three Years January 31, 2004Associated Press A 53-year-old woman convicted of growing marijuana has been sentenced to three years in prison, but the judge allowed her to remain free on bond while she appeals and to continue using the drug for her medical condition as long as she doesn't grow it. A jury convicted Monica Ginn on Jan. 14 of growing and possessing marijuana with intent to deliver. At the trial, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee forbade her attorney from using Washington's medical marijuana law as a defense, saying Ginn's condition wasn't well enough documented. Patients must have a terminal or debilitating medical condition to qualify for medical marijuana under a state law enacted by voters in 1998. Ginn claimed she suffers from chronic back pain and grew pot for herself and for a King County man with multiple sclerosis who has since died. McPhee said he believed he applied the law correctly at her trial but said at Friday's sentencing, "there is a significant appellate issue." Ginn's attorneys hoped her case will interest an appellate court, possibly the Washington State Supreme Court, where justices might reconsider her conviction and better clarify the voter-approved law. "It's about democracy. Voters wanted this to be between patients and doctors. It's about patients and doctors, and they need to be left alone," said Doug Hiatt, Ginn's appellate attorney. "If a patient can't go to a doctor and then rely on that recommendation, then they're screwed — the law doesn't mean anything." Thurston County prosecutors portrayed Ginn as someone who tried to take advantage of a law. They noted her first conviction for the same offense and how she never cited her medical condition during that case. However, Ginn's attorneys said she drew the attention of the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force by asking them to inspect her growing operation to ensure it complied with the law, a factor that shows her innocence. Ginn automatically faced a two-year prison term because the plants were within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop. The judge tacked on another year, but rejected prosecutors' requests for a four- to six-year term, which is a standard range for the crime. "This was not like a methamphetamine lab close to a school bus stop that might have injured others," McPhee said. As Ginn left the courtroom Friday, her supporters collected money to help raise $1,000, or 10 percent of her $10,000 bond, which the judge imposed to ensure she complies with court appearances while her case is on appeal. "It was wonderful to have that much energy and that much support," Ginn said. "I really have a belief that the appeals process will straighten this out." Information from: The Olympian Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Cannabis News Breaking News Archives [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by BGreen on January 17, 2004 at 13:08:05 PT It's Worse In Missouri It's not just a school bus stop, it's any place a school bus travels. Notice the exception is manufacturing less than 5 grams of cannabis. What a joke. Nobody can grow even a single plant without falling under these outrageous penalties.The Reverend Bud GreenAlso signed into law was legislation making it a Class A felony -- punishable by up to life in prison -- to manufacture drugs in a home with children or within 2,000 feet of a public or private school, college, university or school bus. It currently is a felony to sell drugs near schools or when children are present.The only exception would be for production of less than 5 grams of marijuana, which would remain a Class C felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Dan B on January 17, 2004 at 12:40:19 PT No Such Thing One more thing: there is no such thing as a "Drug Free Zone." You can put up all the signs and pass all the laws you want, but in the end there is no such thing as a place where there are no drugs.It reminds me of the signs I used to see when I lived in Santa Cruz, CA. Santa Cruz has much to offer, but one thing I found utterly stupid was that the city spent taxpayers' dollars to put up signs at the city limits that read, "This Is A Nuclear Free Zone." Think about that. There was already a law on the books that declared that no nuclear plants will be built and no nuclear power used in the city of Santa Cruz. What did they expect to accomplish with the signs? If a nuclear bomb dropped on San Jose (just over the hills), did they expect the radiation to turn sideways and evade the city because it saw the signs? Did they expect nuclear-powered vehicles to suddenly come into vogue and invade the city limits? Maybe they wanted trucks carrying nuclear waste to avoid Santa Cruz, but did they really think that such vehicles, commandeered by federal employees with federal mandates, would bypass the city because of a city ordinance? Fat chance. Did the city have the funds to enforce such an ordinance? The signs were a waste of money and a waste of time, and all they managed to do was make the city look stupid.The "Drug Free Zone" laws are similar in their stupidity. Any law against behavior that affects nobody but the person doing the behavior is unenforceable, and additional laws that increase the penalties for unenforceable laws are redundantly unenforceable. If one law won't change behavior, two laws won't either. The whole idea is stupid. It is only a calculated effort to ensure that our prisons remain full for the benefit of the prison-indusrial complex. The only difference between that system (prison-industrial complex) and the (communist) Chinese prison slave-labor system is the laws that enslave. Okay--I think I've said my peace now.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Dan B on January 17, 2004 at 12:23:43 PT: JR Bob Dobbs You hit the nail on the head. Here's an excellent example:I live ten miles out of town in a little cul-de-sac out in the boonies. There are approximately 15 manufactured homes out here, each on a 1/2 acre of land. Our house is on one of those 1/2 acres and set way back from the road (perhaps 300 feet). Even so, the house next door has children (I love kids, don't get me wrong), and every morning the school bus pulls up to take those children to school. Technically, our front yard is a school bus stop. Ten miles from a medium-sized town (about 28,000), out in the boonies, and still I live right next to a school bus stop. The "Drug Free Zone" laws are nothing more than an excuse to give longer sentences to those who don't belong in prison in the first place. The entire "drug war" is a scam, and the "Drug Free Zone" laws are just one more blatant example of that fact. No wonder a majority of the people in this country agree in principle (if not in word) with N.W.A.'s second song on Straight Outta Compton: "F--- the Police." That goes double for the power-broker politicians, whether Republican or Democrat.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by mayan on January 17, 2004 at 05:06:43 PT FoM,Virgil... Thanks for all the info! [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Virgil on January 16, 2004 at 22:23:57 PT Mayan- The Empire strikes back http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-venezuela-us-warning,0,315520.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by FoM on January 16, 2004 at 21:35:59 PT ekim I think 18 except for drinking and that is 21. I could be wrong on the drinking age though. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by ekim on January 16, 2004 at 21:31:41 PT how does Cannabis prohibition affect the youth id like to know when a youth stops being a youth. more and more we are seeing the DAs are going after younger and younger youth to hold accountable. so when is someone not a youth and can decide what they want to do with themselves. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by ekim on January 16, 2004 at 20:50:34 PT Please Geo Zimmer make a Hemp Suit for Dennis ya Virg id like to see that trial. instead of MJ all the time along with the usual suspects, CB and SP and now today I see some other b-ball banger getting in on the air time. Yes I hope that when this new radio station with Kennedy and Franklin they will give the same amount of time to these trials of Cannabis growers and users. A big one would be Montel being fined the quarter mill for telling it like it is.Got email today on how Dennis has been meeting Indian leaders. Dennis has to grab the Peace Pipe by two hands and make a stand.Where is the Hemp industry http://www.thehia.org where are there adds for Dennis. Why is he not wearing the most fashionable clothing ever made out of the plant. Where are those adds telling of the car makers that are putting Hemp in the door panels then shipping here or over the ocean. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on January 16, 2004 at 20:44:10 PT NIDA Research on Pot and the Brain January 15, 2004 Researchers looking at the impact of youth marijuana use on the developing brain may apply for funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA will award $2 million in the form of 4 to 6 grants under the Consequences of Marijuana Use on the Developing Brain grant program. For-profit and nonprofit groups, governments, and schools may apply.Deadline is April 16.http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DA-04-016.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Virgil on January 16, 2004 at 19:59:36 PT Forgot the link in comment12 Here is the link that is so disturbing- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DrClarkMSrelief/message/174 [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Virgil on January 16, 2004 at 19:52:02 PT Mayan, I doubt you hear anything There probably will not be a decent reporting until NarcoNews reports on it. The monied own the Venezula media. That is why Al Giordano says NarcoNews played such a vital role in keeping Chavez in office at the first article at NarcoNews telling of their comeback.I have been reading the yahoo messageboard mentioned here- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18149.shtml#36 -because it concerned alternative treatment for MS. I have only read about 30 of the comments and it is extremely disturbing.People are speaking about how the NIH employees can get consulting fees without disclosure and they can be very large and from pill companies whose products they are studying. The whole health care system is gamed from the top down. This one message is talking about how a person can get fined $250,000 for saying x can help with a disease if you are not a doctor. It is a way to shut down all supplements and all alternative medicine. If I said cannabis is helpful for nausea in AIDS patients, I can be fined a quarter of a million dollars. If I say that because omega-3 is good for preventing heart disease and hempseed is a good source for omega-3 I can be fined that quarter of a million dollars. We are be silenced. The flow of information from the government is being cut off. The news the Fantasyland Five bring us is to direct and manipulate our thoughts. The merger between government and big business is complete. The United States spends twice per capita on health care than the Europeans and it will stay that way. They can make people sick with what they put in food. I read that mercury is in the flew shot because it is the cheapest way to preserve it. We are being lied to on every thing and free speech is as much a memory as public airwaves.The same message talks about Durbin that want vitamins to be illegal. They are out to extract the most money and health has nothing to do with it. They would prefer people to be sick and plenty of people have to be happy with the pollution we are forced to eat, breathe, and drink.Orwell did not see the profitizing of medicine but here we are. Is it now to cost a person a quarter of a million dollars to say cannabis is good for MS and that the mercury in your teeth and tuna is bad for you? This is totally unbelievable.Dr. Clark in the original post at CNews lives in Switzerland. The page for her products does not offer products because the FTC is trying to shut down the website- http://www.drclark.net/utilities/BooksAndProducts.htmhttp://www.drclark.net/utilities/BooksAndProducts.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 16, 2004 at 18:29:05 PT mayan I'm not sure but maybe this link to DRCNet's news might help. Here's an article too.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/320/venezuela.shtmlhttp://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/320/index.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by mayan on January 16, 2004 at 18:19:40 PT Venezuela? I have been searching everywhere for more info on the Venezuelan decrim. Even the Venezuelan papers have blacked it out! I'm assuming it happened since Al Giordano says it did! Has anyone else heard anything? Venezuela Decriminalizes Drug Possession: http://www.bigleftoutside.com/archives/000313.phpThe way out...Iraq was distraction, Clark says: http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2004-01-13-clark.php9/11 - "They wanted it to happen" - J. Buchanan: http://johnbuchanan.org/news/newsitem.php?section=INF&id=1154&showcat=4Commission News: "Whitewash': 9/11 Director Gave Evidence to Own Inquiry" http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=35&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on January 16, 2004 at 17:47:48 PT Umm Is there anyone here who doesn't live within 1000 feet of a school bus stop? Or a school, or a park, or any of the other numerous things that qualify as a "Drug-Free Zone". You'd have to own at least an acre before you could think about being enough in the middle of nowhere to be exempt from this double jeopardy. If they had the same standards for bars, we'd see a lot less bars - or a lot less parks and school bus stops... [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on January 16, 2004 at 17:35:28 PT Erratum 54-46 That's my numberis the correct name of the song. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on January 16, 2004 at 17:33:05 PT 54-46 was my number I subscribe to the Rhapsody online music service and I'm listening to a lot of great music I wouldn't have found otherwise.Right now I'm listening to Toots and the Maytals singing 54-46 Was My Number.It's his cannabis POW number, but of course.Dance attack! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Dankhank on January 16, 2004 at 17:06:12 PT now on Oreilly move on . org ad ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by global_warming on January 16, 2004 at 16:40:41 PT More Hair Splitting "Kevin Johnson, Ginn's attorney, said the verdict was a foregone conclusion because Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee forbade him from using Washington's medical marijuana law as a defense, saying Ginn's condition wasn't well enough documented."Another McPee in the Cup, the Hair Splitters, will never be satisfied, it is their nature to seek the most complex and truly most un-civilized behaviors.These people (the hair splitters) come from a deeply repressed and ancient mindset, a mindset that has for centuries, been at the front of all the human executions on this planet.I know that we should have brothery love and we need to learn how to get along with each other, but how can a person get along with such bad neighbors?Life can be so short, and I wonder, why some of us, would want to make this life so miserable?Perhaps, misery loves company, but I, would rather not make a bad situation worse,.-gw [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by cloud7 on January 16, 2004 at 16:34:45 PT "Every case irks me." Can't sum it up any better than that. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 16, 2004 at 16:25:41 PT It irks me Every case irks me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on January 16, 2004 at 16:16:08 PT Doesn't that just irk you? I'm feeling downright miffed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 16, 2004 at 13:43:20 PT Kentucky kills another. That's Jan. 3, 2004 & now,Jan. 14, 2004.US KY: Drug-Deal Suspect Is Slain By Policehttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n100/a05.html?1977 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment