Gov. Frank Keating will decide this month whether to accept or reject a parole board order to release medical marijuana patient Will Foster from jail. Keating received Foster’s unanimous recommendation for parole late last month and must make a decision within 30 days.
An Oklahoma jury sentenced Foster in 1997 to 93 years in jail for cultivating marijuana in a 25-square foot underground shelter and other lesser marijuana-related charges. Foster maintains that he grew the marijuana to alleviate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis; however, Oklahoma law does not accept the defense of medical necessity as a basis for acquittal on a marijuana charge.
This fall, an appeals court panel found Foster’s sentence excessive and reduced the term to 20 years. At Foster’s first parole board hearing days later, officials unanimously voted to release him on parole upon approval from the governor.
The NORML Foundation urges concerned parties to contact the governor and demand parole for Will Foster so he may be reunited with his family. Contact Gov. Frank Keating at the following address:
State Capitol Building, Room 212
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(P) (405) 521-2342
(F) (405) 521-3317 or (405) 523-4224
For more information on Will Foster, please contact either Keith Stroup, Esq. of NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Dave Borden of The Drug Reform Coordination Network @ (202) 293-8340.