cannabisnews.com: Pot and Prosecution





Pot and Prosecution
Posted by CN Staff on September 09, 2004 at 10:57:06 PT
By Keila Szpaller
Source: Missoula Independent 
Robin Prosser is Missoula’s poster child for legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana. Two years ago, she sustained a 60-day hunger strike to call attention to the need for legally prescribed marijuana. In May, Prosser, who suffers from severe pain and nausea caused by an immunosuppressive disorder, could no longer endure the chronic pain. She attempted suicide. Police helped her psychologist enter her apartment in order to save her. They allegedly found pipes and pot residue. On May 10, she was charged with possession of an illegal substance and paraphernalia. Now, Prosser may be off the hook.
On Sept. 2, a deferred prosecution agreement was filed, signed by Prosser and the city of Missoula, by which Prosser’s case will be deferred for nine months if she meets certain conditions. She “shall commit no acts that could result in charges for violations of federal, state, or local law.” There’s one exception: “Defendant’s use of treatment recommended by her health care providers for her chronic painful permanent medical condition is not a violation of this subsection.” In short, Prosser may continue to use marijuana. If Prosser complies with the conditions, after nine months “the city of Missoula will not oppose a motion to dismiss” the charges presently pending. Patients like Prosser may also be relieved from prosecution for possession of marijuana if the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, Initiative-148, passes in November. Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and, most recently, Vermont have passed similar measures. If the initiative is approved, I-148 would authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to issue ID cards to qualifying patients and caregivers and absolve qualifying patients and physicians from prosecution for using or prescribing medical marijuana. Physicians would be able to prescribe marijuana to qualifying patients without being subjected to arrest, prosecution or disciplinary action by the board of medical examiners. Patients like Prosser would be able to treat pain and nausea with marijuana without fear of prosecution. Linda Merchant is one such patient. She is 42, lives in Broadus in Powder River County, and has long wanted to see such legislation. “I’ve wanted it to be on the ballot years ago after seeing so many people suffer,” she says. Merchant splits her time between her own home in town and, when she isn’t feeling well, her parents’ ranch in the county. She suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), an auto-immune disease that affects the central nervous system. “There is no cure,” she says. There is only management. Over the course of her illness, she has taken Valium, Neurotin, Robaxin, B-12 shots, vitamins, bee pollen and marijuana. She has had extreme adverse reactions to some medications. “I’m very allergic to all the Betaserons,” she says, of a medication commonly used to treat MS. Other meds she takes in high doses. “I am on morphine,” she says. “Enough to knock a horse off his feet.” Merchant tired of the pills that were supposed to stymie her seizures or increase her appetite. Some made her “walk drunk.” Others made her feel worse. “I would have to take a pill to keep a pill down, you know?” she says. About eight years ago, she started smoking pot for her headaches and nausea. She had used pot recreationally in the past, but hasn’t been high in years, she says. “All it does [now] is take away the pain.” The MS causes pressure in Merchant’s head, including excruciating eye pain. “Instantly, when I take a hit, I get relief,” she says. “The pressure starts going down.” And her appetite returns a little, to where “Maybe I can keep down half a sandwich,” she says. The relief she feels from marijuana is different than that delivered by other pain medications, she says. “The medications take up to an hour, if they work.” Broadus is a small town, population 448. Everybody knows everybody else’s business, says Merchant. While she’s convinced her marijuana use isn’t a secret, she doesn’t flaunt it. And law enforcement officials, she says, have not troubled her. “The cops don’t bother me,” she says. “They’ve never seen me, and they won’t.” And she isn’t worried about going to jail. “If they want to take a sick person like me down there, go ahead,” she says. Teresa Michalski of Helena was worried about jail. Last December, her son Travis died at 29 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He, too, used marijuana. One evening at the kitchen table, Travis told his parents that the marijuana was helping him through the cancer, says Michalski. It helped with pain, anxiety and appetite. He wanted his parents’ permission to smoke in their home, where he was living. They agreed, says Michalski, but they worried about the law. “The cops here are right out of the police academy, and they don’t ever give any kid a break,” says Michalski. While she believes that police should toe the line, she worried that her son would be charged and her family would suffer the consequences. He was never busted, though, and she’s glad. “Our names would have just been drug through the mud,” she says. Travis died in December. Now, Michalski campaigns on behalf of I-148. “This is something that’ll help me heal,” she says. Plus, she imagines her son cheering her on: “Go Mom, go.” The argument that upsets her the most is that marijuana is a “gateway drug.” Most people who use marijuana medicinally have a terminal condition, she says. Most, she believes, don’t have the strength to leave their own homes. She views the Medical Marijuana Act as apolitical: “It’s one of those issues that, if people are real, it’s not a party issue, it’s a humane issue.” Note: Prosser finds relief—what about the rest?Source: Missoula Independent (MT)Author: Keila SzpallerPublished: September 9, 2004 - Vol. 15 - No. 37Copyright: 2004 Missoula IndependentWebsite: http://www.everyweek.com/Contact: http://www.everyweek.com/News/Letters/LetterTo.aspRelated Articles & Web Sites:Montana Careshttp://montanacares.org/Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedicinal Marijuana User Won't Face Trialhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19460.shtmlMed Marijuana: Initiative Can Help State's Sick http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19410.shtmlAiling Woman Ticketed After Police Find Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18913.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on September 09, 2004 at 12:25:33 PT
I think we are cheaper for insurance companies
I'll bet that when all the beans are counted, the bean counters will find that medical marijuana makes economic sense:*****************************Health Insurance Premiums ClimbingBy Jesus Sanchez, Times Staff WriterThe cost of employer-sponsored health coverage continued to spiral upward in 2004, with insurance premiums rising an average of 11.2% while the number of workers receiving company health coverage fell, according to a survey released today.Soaring health insurance premiums ? up nearly 60% since 2001 ? found many companies shopping for cheaper coverage and looking to boost contributions from their workers, according to the nationwide survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on September 09, 2004 at 11:35:42 PT:
Humanity...from an inhumane government?
I hate to say this, but Ms. Merchant has just put herself in the gunsights of these Dick Tracey *cum* Roger Ramjet types. For whom she will be only another notch on their career files...or pistol grips. They'll care not one whit about her condition, as Ms. Prosser has learned to her sorrow.I keep saying it: only until they or a loved one is stricken with an equally painful and/or life-threatening ailment do the Elite and their 'vessels of power', the police, realize how badly this 'wonder drug' is needed. Until then, they go their merry way, leaving pain, misery and destruction in their wakes.To mention to them the word "Nuremburg" either elicits blank, uncomprehending stares, or worse, snarls at the obvious implication of their defense of their actions with "I'm just doing my job." But no amount of histrionic denials can mask the ugly truth.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment