San Diego, CA: The Justice Department’s decision to federally prosecute an outspoken San Diego medical marijuana patient for maintaining a modest 20-plant garden in his home raises serious questions regarding the misuse of federal power to curb free speech and political dissent, according to Keith Stroup, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Drug enforcement agents (DEA) arrested Steve McWilliams – co-director of San Diego’s Shelter From The Storm, a small medical marijuana collective that served six patients – on marijuana cultivation charges Saturday, more than two weeks after a regional task force acting on a federal warrant seized 20 medicinal cannabis plants from his home. Local police and politicians strongly criticized the Feds’ action, noting that McWilliams had been legally abiding by state law.
McWilliams possesses a doctor’s recommendation to use medical pot, and had been working closely with local officials to abide by the city’s pending medical marijuana guidelines. He had been a member of the City Council’s Medical Marijuana task force, and had previously sponsored a medi-pot giveaway outside City Hall to protest the Feds’ prohibition of medicinal cannabis.
“This prosecution raises serious questions about the misuse of federal power to try to silence a vocal critic of federal policy,” NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said. “It is inconceivable that the federal government would become involved in this case were it not for Steve McWilliams’ effectiveness as an advocate for the medical use of marijuana.”
While DEA officials have recently taken action against multiple marijuana patients and providers in California, they have rarely filed criminal charges. The Justice Department typically doesn’t get involved in marijuana cases unless they involve several hundred plants.
If convicted, McWilliams faces a mandatory five-year minimum sentence, based on additional evidence presented to the federal grand jury that he previously grew marijuana for a separate cooperative in 1999. McWilliams was never prosecuted locally in that case, leaving it open for federal prosecutors to present to a grand jury.
A summary of federal medical marijuana cases in California since September 11, 2001, is available online at: http://www.canorml.org/news/fedmmjcases.html.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup at (202) 483-5500 or California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer at (415) 563-5858.