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| DEA Medical Marijuana Raids |
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Posted by CN Staff on October 24, 2002 at 18:48:10 PT By Preston Peet- for DrugWar.com Source: DrugWar.com 
Charles Edward "Eddy" Lepp and his wife Linda Senti own a farm in Upper Lake, California, with a sign out front that reads, "Eddy's Medicinal Gardens and Chapel." Nestled up against the Mendecino National Forest at the lower edge of the Emerald Triangle, they're very open about growing high-grade medical marijuana on their farm. On August 27, 2002, DEA agents and members of the Lake County Narcotics Task Force raided the farm while Lepp and his wife were away in San Francisco.
Although the DEA claims its agents confiscated 266 nearly mature marijuana plants, "There are no pending federal charges against this gentleman or his wife," US Attorney in San Francisco spokesperson Debbie Young told this writer. Lepp, an ordained minister and Vietnam veteran, is the first person to have been arrested, tried and acquitted under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, better known as Proposition 215, for growing medical marijuana in California. It is a mystery to many how the feds can justify their recent spat of raids on medical marijuana growers as they are not pressing charges in most cases even after finding large quantities of pot. It would appear that if a warrant were issued for a search and illegal contraband was recovered, arrests would be forthcoming, but in many recent cases in California this has not happened. For other unfortunate victims of capricious federal anti-drug warriors, it's worse, in that some are facing raids and charges for ridiculously small amounts of pot that the locals not only know about, but condone. Steve McWilliams, who gave out free medical marijuana to patients from the city hall steps in San Diego on September 17, in protest of yet another chargeless raid- this one against the Wo/man's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz on September 5- was given a warning letter by DEA agents, then had DEA troopers show up to destroy his 25 plant garden within a week. "This guy is violating the law and he's flaunting it. He brought this whole thing on himself," DEA spokesperson Donald Thornhill, Jr. told the San Diego Tribune. "If you voice your opinion and assert your rights, then you become a target for the DEA? That’s unfortunate," said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of the NORML Foundation. "The idea is that he’s ‘flaunting it’ by simply asserting his rights under state law and under the 1st Amendment. If that’s the kind of criteria, then judges and eventually appeals court panels should hear these cases on the basis that it sound like selective prosecutorial misconduct." McWilliams is now facing a 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence if convicted as a result of this raid, combined with charges just now levied by the feds for another raid back in 1999 on the Shelter from the Storm Cannabis Collective, which McWilliams helped organize. These DEA actions are disturbing to many people, patients and public officials alike. San Jose, California Police Chief William Lansdowne recently pulled his officers off their assignments to the DEA's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, a cooperative narcotics law enforcement effort between local, state, and federal officers, saying his officers have more important things to concentrate on, like methamphetamines. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who supports and even voted for the Compassionate Use Act, sent a letter to DEA head Asa Hutchinson and US Attorney General John Ashcroft, saying, "I must also question the ethical basis for the DEA's policy when these reaids are being executed without apparent regard to the likelihood of successful prosecution," after the DEA raid on the Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. That was just one of Lockyer's "concerns, that the feds were making more political statements without really intending to carry the case through," said Hallye Jordan, spokesperson for Attorney General Lockyer. "That was sparked by the Santa Cruz raid. That was the one he was most concerned about because local law enforcement was totally unaware of it, not involved and uninformed. At this point, because there are no state-wide standards, the Attorney General has encouraged communities to get together, the law enforcement, the health professionals, the medical marijuana advocates, city and county officials, and put together a plan, whether it’s how many plants would be covered as for medical purposes, or what sort of identification card would be appropriate, to just come up with their own way to meet their community standards. You know, some guidelines for implementing Proposition 215. And in fact, that’s what the case was in Santa Cruz. The clinic there was sanctioned by local law enforcement and city officials. They were all working together. It was all working out just the way we’d hoped it would be lacking the state-wide standards." DEA chief Hutchinson's reply -- http://www.drugwar.com/hutchinsonresponse.pdf -- to Lockyer's letter addressed at length the Supreme Court ruling that Congress has decreed marijuana to have no currently accepted medical benefits, but did not address the vindictive raiding by federal enforcers without subsequent charges. DrugWar.com is happy to have had the opportunity to speak with Lepp and his wife over the course of a couple days this week, about the raid at his place, what he plans to do about it, and a number of other topics too, in an interview which we now post here. Short discussions with representatives of California Attorney General Lockyer's office and NORML follow this interview. Complete Article: http://www.drugwar.com/plepp.shtm Source: DrugWar.com Related Articles & Web Site: Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens Marijuana Activists Give It Away at City Hall Officers Confiscate 266 Pot Plants Grandma Loving Life on Pot Farm Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #1 posted by knox42897 on October 24, 2002 at 23:40:14 PT:
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| If you were thinking about donating to the Marijuana Policy Project's
ballot initiative campaign in Nevada, would you please visit
http://www.NRLE.org right away? There are only 12 days left until
November 5. And you're not going to believe how close the vote is
so far ... The latest statewide poll of 600 Nevada voters -- completed on Tuesday night -- shows that our ballot initiative is still trailing by a mere 44% to 46%, with 10% undecided. We have been 2% down since the polls opened statewide on Saturday. Since Saturday, approximately 7,000 voters in the Las Vegas area have been voting daily. (The county government issues daily reports on how many people are voting, but not how they are voting.) With every day that passes, about 3,430 votes are falling into the "yes" column in Las Vegas, and about 3,570 votes are falling into the "no" column. The same trend is true on a smaller scale in Reno and the rural counties. With every day that passes, we fall another 140 votes behind in Las Vegas -- and a total of about 200 votes behind statewide. As of last night, the cumulative voting from Saturday through Wednesday probably puts us a total of 1,000 votes down statewide, out of about 50,000 votes cast. The good news is that we are still hanging on by our fingernails in this bold campaign to end the arrest of all adult marijuana users in Nevada. When we launched this campaign back in April, who would have thought that we could defeat the federal government and the Nevada police on this issue? But there is bad news, too. Our opponents are sitting on $100,000 of the $200,000 they have raised for their TV ad campaign. They are going to use their remaining $100,000 to blitz the Nevada electorate with deceptive TV ads next week, and they need only maintain their 2% margin over us during these last 12 days to defeat us. Our strategy, in the meantime, is to make up the 2% deficit and take the lead by November 4, because literally half of the Nevada electorate votes on November 5. Quite simply, we can do this if we outspend our opponents two-to-one on TV next week. I reported to you on Monday that our campaign needs to raise $100,000 from you and other supporters this week. The $100,000 worth of TV ads we had already reserved for next week, plus a new $100,000 from this e-mail list this week, will mean that our TV ad blitz will double our opponents' blitz next week, taking us to victory on November 5. Since Monday, our e-mail list and the Libertarian Party's e-mail list have generated an astounding $24,500 for the Nevada campaign, leaving us in need of only $75,500. Would you please visit http://www.NRLE.org to donate some of the remaining $75,500 that is needed to finish off this campaign and achieve victory on November 5? A donation of $10 will mean that 600 Nevada voters will see one of our TV ads one time each; a donation of $50 means that 3,000 voters will see our ad once. And a $250 donation -- which will pay for 15,000 voter impressions -- can be tax-deductible by visiting http://www.NRLE.org/donate.html and checking the appropriate box. To give some perspective on how important the final $100,000 is to this campaign, please consider this: The final $100,000 will ensure that all 835,000 potential Nevada voters will see one of our TV ads eight times each. This initiative to end the arrest of all marijuana users is by far the best opportunity we have ever had to end marijuana prohibition anywhere in the U.S. And this initiative has received generous support from passionate MPP members and other allies in all 50 states ... Since we launched the Nevada campaign, 4,346 people in all 50 states have donated financially to this effort. Unfortunately, 29,388 people on this e-mail list have not donated anything. I want to thank you in advance if you decide you are able to make a last-minute donation. Money equals TV airtime. Thank you! Sincerely, Rob Kampia Executive Director Marijuana Policy Project Washington, D.C. P.S. By donating $250 or more now, you will receive a videotape of the TV news coverage and all TV ads from the Nevada campaign. Better yet, we are making a special offer whereby donations of $250 or more can be tax-deductible. P.P.S. Our first-ever national conference will begin three days after Election Day in Anaheim, California. To join us for what will hopefully be a victory celebration, please register at http://www.mpp.org/conference . P.P.P.S. To donate through the mail, please send your check to MPP's Nevada Campaign, P.O. Box 77492, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC 20013. [ Post Comment ] |
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