palmspringsbum
I may well be the first person to have felony marijuana cultivation charges dismissed in San Bernardino County. (The Barretts got 3-years probation). And I did it with a public defender ... and a lot of help from Lanny Swerdlow of The Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project (MAPP) and his partner Victor, Joe Elford of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), The Victors, and a lot of other people. Still, achieving that took everything I had and I've been homeless almost 2 years as of this writing (August 21, 2006). The photos above are of Deputy Dougan returning my property after the felony cultivation charge was dismissed and the Order For Return of Property was granted. In addition to the criminal cultivation charges I also had to fight an eviction. All the documents (briefs, transcripts, discovery, etc...) for the criminal cultivation charges, the eviction and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing complaint can be found on my Morongo Valley Timeline.
I launched a bbs or forum (while homeless) which you can access at palmspringsbum.com/bbs. I hope it will become THE place to discuss the movement, as well as serve as a repository of information about The Medical Marijuana Movement:: the law, the science, the people, the history. And more.
I have a number of links and/or references to information on Overgrow, which was taken down by the RCMP. There have been rumors it will be back up, but it's been over 3 months. In the meantime it looks like the truth is beginning to come out on PlanetGanja.
I've been homeless for almost 2 years now, another victim of the drug war. I don't have the time to offer as much here or keep everything as up-to-date as I'd like, but...
Welcome to my website.
The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world - Carl Sagan Ph.D., Marihuana Reconsidered (1971).
It is difficult to imagine that future studies will subtract much from the clinical experience-driven perception that cannabis is a remarkably versatile medicine with relatively little toxicity. - Dr. Lester Grinspoon, M.D Associate Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School , co-host of Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine
Reckless Disregard — The robber barons of the drug industry, the real drug pushers of America, are determined that we live or die or suffer in ways that help their bottom line regardless of science, logic, medicine, compassion, or any other consideration.
When considering the witches brew of concoctions the drug companies want to pour down my throat and into my veins I say a resounding "Just Say No". - Dr. Jay Cavanaugh, Ph.D, member California State Board of Pharmacy 1980-1990, National Director American Alliance for Medical Cannabis. OverGrow forums, 03.11.2003
I was sent undercover to Bangkok during the Vietnam War. I was hanging with Chinese drug dealers in Bangkok. They were smuggling heroin into the U.S. in the dead bodies of GIs who were transshipped through Thailand...when you get in, the first thing you discover is that you can't touch some of the biggest drug dealers in the world because they're protected by the CIA or they're protected by the State Department. Everyone from Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico to Manuel Noriega to the contras in Nicaragua to the Mujahedin in Afghanistan. Those of us who work overseas realize that this whole thing is a three-card monte game, that it's a lie....Michael Levine - Battlefield Conversions
If anyone tried to pass laws on those same bases today, they'd be condemned. Yet the laws that we have are the last vestiges of Jim Crow. You don't have to identify yourself as a bigot anymore -- you can be for the drug war and you really are getting "them." - Dr. Joseph McNamara - Police Chief for San Jose from 1976-1991, doctorate in public administration from Harvard, currently a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Battlefield Conversions
I get busted
25 Nov 03 - Morongo Valley Timeline, On November 25th, 2003 my landlady staged a scene as an excuse to call the sheriff, with the result that I was raided. She served as a Confidential Informant. And when I returned 5 days later, posted a 3-day-quit on my door.
04 Dec 03 - Local medicinal marijuana patient evicted, KESQ - Channel 3, Palm Springs, CA
29 Dec 03 - Medical Marijuana raises questions, the 'd', George Watson
16 Jan 04 - I file a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing
17 Feb 04 - Unlawful Detainer is dismissed.
18 Feb 04 - Prelimiary Hearing for charges of 11368, felony cultivation.
10 Mar 04 - Bonita posts another 3-day-quit.
01 Apr 04 - Case Dismissed!, Lanny Swerdlow - press release. Felony cultivation charges are dismissed.
07 May 04 - Premature Motion for Return of Property
18 May 04 - Medpot User Files Claim, San Bernardino Sun, Joe Nelson
26 May 04 - Return of Property Hearing, I get an order to have everything that doesn't have the word 'marijuana' in it returned.
9 Jun 04 - Unlawful Detainer-Retaliatory Eviction, The trial is continued till Jun 23 to allow time to acquire transcripts of the previous unlawful detainer (that was dismissed when Bonita said, "I thought he meant 1 or 2 plants...") and the KESQ news broadcast. Also, to subpeona deputy Wolfe. I must pay $150 for Wolfe to testify.
10 Jun 04 - I receive a notice that the DFEH is terminating their investigation.
7 Jul 04 - Unlawful detainer trial ends
4 Apr 05 - Unlawful detainer appeal decision
23 Feb 06 - Interview with Robert Norse
Angel Raich
13 Jul 2003 - Controversial treatment: Wife, mother of two says she owes her life to medical marijuana, Oakland Tribune
16 Dec 03 - Federal appeals court OKs medical marijuana in some cases, San Jose Mercury News
19 May 04 - Stage Set for Legal Showdown Over Pot, The L.A. Times
27 Nov 04 - Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supremes, CounterPunch
8 Dec 04 - Shattered Grass, MetroActive
6 Jun 05 - State Medical Mariuana Laws Remain Valid Despite U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, The American Civil Liberties Union
7 Jun 05 - A Defeat For Users of Medical Marijuana, The Washington Post. State Laws No Defense, Supreme Court Rules
7 Jun 05 - Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana, CNN
31 Mar 06 - Angel Raich Tries Again on Medical Marijuana, But Judges Sound Skeptical, The Drug War Chronicle
30 Jun 06- Appeals Court: Congress can ban homemade machine guns, Bay City News Service
Valerie & Michael Corral
6 Sep 02 - The Brutal War on Medical Marijuana, AlterNet
17 Sep 02 - DEA's War on California, CounterPunch. The Crackdown on Medical Marijuana
27 Sep 02 - WAMM Files Federal Motion for Return of Marijuana Seized in Dispensary Raid, The Drug War Chronicle
29 Dec 02 - Newsmaker of the Year Valerie and Mike Corral: Raid reinvigorates WAMM, medical pot debate, The Santa Cruz Sentinel
7 Feb 03 - In Calif., Medical Marijuana Collective Loses Hope, Patients, The Washington Post. State Law Provides No Shelter From DEA
12 Mar 03 - Green Milestones, MetroActive
28 Apr 03 - Fighting Back in Santa Cruz, CounterPunch. Medical Marijuana Patients Sue the Feds
23 Apr 04 - Federal Judge Tells Feds to Leave Medical Marijuana Co-Op Alone, The Drug War Chronicle
8 Dec 04 - Shattered Grass?, MetroActive
6 Jun 05 - State Medical Marijuana Laws Remain Valid Despite U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, The American Civil Liberties Union
7 Jun 05 - Local medical pot users disheartened by decision, The Santa Cruz Sentinel
15 Jul 05 - March planned through heart of S.C., The Santa Cruz Sentinel. Medical pot parade to put festive face on ongoing, hard-fought battle.
11 Sep 05 - Green is the scene: Serious and not-so-serious issues highlight local pot club's festival, The Santa Cruz Sentinel
25 Oct 05 - Santa Cruz proposes medical marijuana department, The Santa Cruz Sentinel
31 Jan 06 - Round Two Begins in Legal Fight to Force Feds to Honor States' Medical Marijuana Laws, The American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU and Others Ask Federal Court to Approve City of Santa Cruz Plan to Provide Medical Marijuana directly to Patients
7 Jul 06 - New filings in Santa Cruz v. Gonzales case, filing motions against San Diego County for not acknowledging Proposition 215 (Compassionate Use Act), and WAMM garage sale!, IndyMedia
Dr. Tod Mikuriya
Judy & Lynn Osborn
Anna & Gary Barrett
04 Oct 02 - Medical marijuana trial moves forward, Victorville Daily Press
21 Dec 02 - Judge OKs order, Victorville Daily Press
09 May 03 - David Herrick, I just got a call from Daniel Halpern, Gary & Anna Barret's lawyer. Their case was thrown out of court this morning in San Bernadino County, & all their property is to be returned including their marijuana. All charges were dropped by the judge.
LaVonne & Martin Victor
28 sep 02 - Couple To Stand Trial On Marijuana Charges, The North County Times
Oct 02 - State Supreme Court Mower Ruling Protects Prop. 215 Patients, NORML
13 Sep 03 - Judge orders hearing on pot as medicine, The Press-Enterprise. TEMECULA: Before the court are a couple who gre marijuana to treat their various illnesses.
18 Nov 03 - The Low Down on the victory of Marty and LaVonne Victor, Hemp Evolution
02 Dec 03 - Pot case called 'shift', Press Enterprise, Joe Vargo
09 Jan 04 - Couple hopes to create medical pot dispensary, Press Enterprise, Joe Vargo
10 Mar 04 - Medical-Marijuana Dialogue Sought, The L.A. Times
11 Sep 04 - City looks at ban on pot clubs, The Press-Enterprise. TEMECULA: Officials want to delay medical marijuana groups while they research laws.
15 Sep 04 - Temecula bars medical pot dispensaries, The Press Enterprise. MARIJUANA: Officials say the ban allows for study of therapeutic issues and potential legal conflicts
22 Dec 04 - Judge lets Temecula couple regain their drug-related items, The Press-Enterprise
9 Aug 05 - Cannabis civics, The Press-Enterprise
29 Aug 05 - Medical marijuana under siege, The Desert Sun. County's temporary ban on dispensaries leaves users in bind.
15 Dec 05 - Dispensary riads slammed, The Press-Enterprise. DEA: An official confirms the agency is conducting a large-scale inquiry of the sites.
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