cannabisnews.com: Bail Eased for Medical Marijuana User's Need 





Bail Eased for Medical Marijuana User's Need 
Posted by FoM on September 22, 2000 at 14:39:00 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe 
A judge has amended bail conditions for a New Vineyard man charged with growing marijuana to allow him to continue to use it for medical reasons. District Judge Robert E. Mullen's decision, likely the first in which a judge has amended bail rules to allow medicinal use of marijuana, stipulates that Leonard Ellis, 62, must comply with Maine's new law. The law allows those with a doctor's certified recommendation to possess six growing plants and 1¼ ounces of processed marijuana for medical use. Ellis is accused of having 83 plants and several ounces of processed marijuana at his New Vineyard home. 
Federal law, which supersedes state law, still bars possession of marijuana for any reason. The ruling came after Ellis' lawyer, David Sanders, asked to court to approve the release of a legal amount of the marijuana seized during the Aug. 9 raid at Ellis' home. Ellis suffers from muscular dystrophy and says he uses marijuana to help him relax his deteriorating muscles so he can sleep. After his arraignment, he said he would call friends to help him find more of the drug. ''I'm fighting for my life,'' he said. He added that his condition is worsening and that he often is too weak to get out of bed. He grew extra marijuana this year in case he was too ill to do it in future years, he said. Assistant District Attorney James Andrews disagreed with the ruling, but also commended the judge for his compassion and his effort to act within the spirit of the new state law, which voters approved last November. ''If I agreed, it would mean I was agreeing that Ellis could possess what would be contraband under federal law,'' he said. ''The medical marijuana law is well-intentioned, but it creates a huge mess as far as enforcement goes.'' The Ellis case is not a test case of Maine's new law because the amount being grown was so beyond the limit, he said. ''This is a common marijuana-cultivation case, and we're treating it in a straightforward manner.'' The Ellis case shows that obtaining medical marijuana presents problems for those the law is intended to help, Sanders said. Many are not likely to have the resources or ability to set up indoor growing operations or acquire marijuana year-round, he said. Instead, they turn to the black market. ''You're starting with a fundamental illegality that the statute just winks at,'' Sanders said. Elizabeth Beane, director of a group that was a force behind the new law, Mainers for Medical Rights, applauded Mullen's bail amendment. ''This is the first time I know of in Maine where that has happened. I'm very pleased the judge made that decision and recognized Ellis has a valid medical condition,'' she said. Beane serves with Assistant Attorney General James Cameron on the task force that has been studying implementation of the law. The group will release its final report next week, though members could not agree on recommendations. ''I am disappointed we didn't reach a consensus, but with an issue as complicated as this one and in light of conflicting federal law that still makes it a crime to use marijuana, I guess it's not surprising,'' he said. Farmington, Maine (AP)Published: September 22, 2000© Copyright 2000 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc.Related Article & Web Site:Mainers For Medical Rightshttp://www.mainers.org/Man with Muscular Dystrophy Loses his Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6683.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by EdC on September 23, 2000 at 09:31:28 PT
Medical MJ
''The medical marijuana law is well-intentioned, but it creates a huge mess as far as enforcementgoes.'' Law enforcement shouldn't even be involved; medical pot is a medical issue. As far as the federal government's involvement: look to the 10th amendment, then send the clowns packing. Vote an end to the drug war.
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Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 22, 2000 at 15:42:26 PT
Law Enforcement
Most law enforcement believes it's easier to round up all marijuana users, it's just easier. It's not hard to see why most of them are against medical marijuana, it makes them have to think.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 22, 2000 at 15:09:58 PT:
Related Article
Task Force Disagrees on Recommendations for Medical Marijuana Friday, September 22, 2000Associated PressPress Heraldhttp://www.portland.com/Copyright © Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.©Copyright 2000 Associated Press Augusta - A prosecutor says the task force studying the implementation of Maine's medical marijuana law hasn't reached a consensus. Assistant Attorney General James Cameron serves on the task force, which will release its report next week. He says the group wasn't able to agree on recommendations. Cameron says it's disappointing. But he adds that the issue is complicated because of the conflicting federal law against marijuana possession for any reason.Assistant District Attorney James Andrews is prosecuting a case in which a 62-year-old man is accused of having 83 plants, many more than the six the state law allows. The man says he is a medical marijuana user and was trying to stock up because he is getting too weak to grow it. Andrews says the state law is well-intentioned, but the clash with federal law creates a mess for enforcement. Related Article:Man Busted for Possession Says MMJ Law Limiting The limits in Maine's medical marijuana fail to take into account lower-income people who must grow the plant outside their homes during summer to stock up for winter, according to a Vassalboro man who was arrested for having more marijuana than the law allows. Carroll Cummings, 53, said bail conditions from his recent arrest for having too much marijuana means he no longer can use the drug to treat his condition. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6792.shtml
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