Governor Frank Keating rejected last week a unanimous parole board order to release medical marijuana patient Will Foster from jail. Keating’s decision came despite public outcry urging Foster’s release and written recommendations from several prison officials on Foster’s behalf. Keating’s office did not issue a public statement explaining his decision.
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.
Foster will be eligible for parole consideration again in one year.
For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup, Esq. of NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.