cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Advocate Kills Herself










  Medical Marijuana Advocate Kills Herself

Posted by CN Staff on October 27, 2007 at 07:34:18 PT
By Michael Moore of the Missoulian 
Source: Missoulian 

Montana -- Robin Prosser, a Missoula woman who struggled for a quarter century to live with the pain of an immunosuppressive disorder, tried years ago to kill herself. Last week, she tried again. This time, she succeeded.After her earlier attempt failed, Prosser wound up in even more trouble after investigating police found marijuana in her home. She used the marijuana to help cope with pain.
That marijuana charge was eventually dropped in an agreement with the city of Missoula, and Prosser had reason to rejoice in 2004 when Montanans passed a law allowing medical use of the drug.She was a high-profile campaigner for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, and like others, she was dismayed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that drug agents could still arrest sick people using marijuana, even in states that legalized its use.The ruling came to haunt Prosser in late March, when DEA agents seized less than a half ounce of marijuana sent to her by her registered caregiver in Flathead County.At the time, the DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division said federal agents were “protecting people from their own state laws” by seizing such shipments.“I feel immensely let down,” Prosser would write a few months later, in a guest opinion for the Billings Gazette published July 28. “I have no safety, no protection, no help just to survive in a little less pain. I can't even get a job due to my medical marijuana use - can't pass a drug test.”Federal prosecutors declined to charge Prosser, but fear spread through the system of marijuana distribution set up in the wake of the medical marijuana act. Friends said Prosser turned to other sources for marijuana, but found problems nearly everywhere she turned.“Most recently, she had found some people who said they could get her what she needed, but it didn't go well,” said her friend Jane Byard.Without the relief that marijuana delivered to her, Robin Prosser killed herself at home last week. She was 50.Prosser suffered from an autoimmune disease that gave her allergic and dangerous reactions to most pharmaceutical painkillers. So she turned to marijuana. When that was no longer available she had no where else to turn.“She just said she couldn't take it all anymore,” Byard said.In her guest opinion, Prosser wrote that: “I'm 50 years old, low-income and sick. I spend most days in my apartment in bed, with no air conditioning, unable to go outside because I can't tolerate the sun.”Beset by financial problems, troubled by depression, unable to find a reliable source of pain relief, she took her own life three months after the piece was published.“Give me liberty or give me death,” she wrote in July. “Maybe the next campaign ought to be for assisted-suicide laws in our state. If they will not allow me to live in peace, and a little less pain, would they help me to die, humanely?”Before being disabled by her disease, Prosser was a concert pianist and a systems analyst. After the disease hit her, she became a tireless advocate for legalized use of marijuana in medical situations.“She had so many difficulties, but she was a wonderful person,” Byard said. “She was kind and funny and just as smart as a whip. She was a very good friend to me, and it's a very sad story what happened to her.”Robin Prosser: Forbidden Medicine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuxHvCDdNzcGuest Opinion By Robin Prosser: DEA Thwarts Montana's Medical Marijuana Law: http://tinyurl.com/2n6hrr Newshawk: Nuevo Mexican Source: Missoulian (MT)Author: Michael Moore of the MissoulianPublished: Saturday, October 27, 2007 Copyright: 2007 MissoulianContact: oped missoulian.comWebsite: http://www.missoulian.com/Related Articles:Prosser Commits Suicidehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23433.shtmlMarijuana: Medicine or Drug?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22856.shtmlMarijuana-Using Patients Uneasy About Unknowns http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20411.shtml

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Comment #93 posted by whig on November 09, 2007 at 23:10:22 PT
fyi
John Cole's blog won.I put Robin Prosser's name up on a tree of remembrance today, at the place where I go for healing.
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Comment #92 posted by whig on November 08, 2007 at 02:21:39 PT
John Cole
Balloon Juice is now leading in the Weblog award category for Top 250 blogs.
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Comment #91 posted by whig on November 03, 2007 at 10:31:02 PT
Hope
Maybe it's a generational thing, but nudity is fine by me generally. It doesn't offend me, especially if I'm not forced to watch.
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Comment #90 posted by whig on November 03, 2007 at 10:28:25 PT
Hope
The nudity did not bother me, and he made a point of being anointed publicly for a political reason that not every viewer might understand.
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Comment #89 posted by Hope on November 03, 2007 at 06:10:20 PT
Dignity
It's not a bad thing.It's a good thing.Modesty is, too.
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Comment #88 posted by Hope on November 03, 2007 at 06:07:35 PT
The Prince has no clothes....
the only saving point is that at least he wasn't pretending to be clothed.I wish he hadn't done that. Sometimes I think it would have been better if he'd been a movie actor or something instead of trying to do something as serious as stop this needless and ongoing persecution of people over the use of an herb.In one weekend, in three different movies, I was presented with prolonged, apparently, "artistic" views of Billy Bob Thornton's gnarly old naked butt. I like Billy Bob Thornton, a lot, but my enjoyment of his acting was not increased by all that. What's with all the "mooning" the audience? I think the name for it is "exhibitionism". What's next. A "moon" show of all the presidential candidates?What's the point? He didn't help himself or us with that little romp. Some things are private... or should be. I yucked when his wife wiped eye matter out of his eyes, too. Yuck! Was that supposed to be oh so sweet? Perhaps in private, it could have been an affectionate thing...but...Yuck.The video was not only a wasted opportunity, it did more harm than good.I'm not a prude, either. I don't think I am, anyway. You can see all you want of such "asinine" public displays in any hospital caring for the dementia patients who are inclined to such displays when the patient gets his way. It made me sad. I was very disappointed.
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Comment #87 posted by whig on November 02, 2007 at 22:46:46 PT
John Cole
Balloon Juice was nominated for a Weblog award.http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-of-the-top-250-blogs-1.phpHe currently has received 420 votes.
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Comment #86 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:50:29 PT
Invisible suit
Watch this if you have bandwidth to waste.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEmZO2hiGCk
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Comment #85 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:46:39 PT
Sometimes...
In that video, the prince of pot has no clothes either. But as long as he's aware of that, and he is, that's not a problem.
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Comment #84 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:39:27 PT
Music
One of my favorite musicians, and she's from Canada. This is Sarah McLachlan. I thought I'd dedicate it to Marc and Jodie.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fin8_w153_A
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Comment #83 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:20:33 PT
The emperor has no clothes
Everyone sees it now.
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Comment #82 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:17:30 PT
Dawn on the horizon
The current administration is discredited, publicly ridiculed, and the Republican party is in self-destruct.Hold on.
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Comment #81 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 22:06:01 PT
Marc Emery
I would love for there to be a day that you can freely travel to a place like California, and sit down in a café to smoke a bowl of some local greens. We're working on it, and if we don't quite get to that point, well we're still not in need of more prisoners to be looking after.And maybe someday my wife and I might be able to visit Canada, too.It's all very bad right now, and the issues are not just cannabis as you know. The ridiculous war on terra, and 911 everything is far more intense down here than I can imagine you get up north.Stay safe, brother.
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Comment #80 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 21:56:53 PT
Marc Emery
Think of Jodie. Think of what she means to you, and what this will do to her to lose you. You have a responsibility to her now, please don't forget.There's so much more that you haven't seen yet, so much that will get better before you know it.
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Comment #79 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 21:53:43 PT
afterburner
I agree we should hope that the legal system in Canada can sort this out in a way to keep Marc from being extradited, and he needs to make a decision to be patient and stick with it for the long term, not try to go out like a bonfire.
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Comment #78 posted by afterburner on October 30, 2007 at 20:40:23 PT
whig #54 
I agree with you and Jodie. Also, the "Nelson Charges" (Canadian charges) by a Canadian individual against Marc Emery could still trump the DEA's extradition. Finally, two Ontario judges have again ruled this year that two "cannabis possession" offenses are "not known to the law." Since "cannabis" is mentioned only in Schedule II in Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, deleting possession deletes trafficking, cultivation, import and export. If other provincial judges concur, then Marc and the other BC3 defendants cannot be extradited under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which requires both countries to have an equivalent laws. 
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Comment #77 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 20:12:08 PT
afterburner 
I agree. We are the ones that should act shocked sometimes. They always act shocked.
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Comment #76 posted by afterburner on October 30, 2007 at 19:50:54 PT
FoM #46 & Hope #51 
"Hate is really unhealthy.""Being upset, annoyed, determined, indignant are good because they make us focus"Anger is like the second case, as long as we avoid letting it slide into hate.Prohibitionists do not seem to respond well to logical argument, and they avoid anger. So, they need to be shamed like a small child, too young to reason with. Our righteous indignation shows them that they have gone too far, that many people oppose their actions. 
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Comment #75 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 10:59:14 PT
Hope
Go get to work. I just got bringing in wood for the day. Fall is so beautiful. I know deep in my heart Robin would want us to look forward to the future. She is now one more reason to care. 
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Comment #74 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:51:59 PT
One of the greatest things about friends...
is, if they are the right kind, they help keep you centered and balanced. I certainly have the "right kind" here and it helps me to be the "right kind" of friend to friends in the non-cyber world, too. Right now...if I don't get to work, a couple of them are going to get unbalanced by my lack of input to our mutual, un-cyber world projects.Once again. I love you guys. Thanks.:0)
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Comment #73 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 10:40:48 PT
Hope
You are special. Being you is important to all of us. You never do anything wrong that I have ever noticed.
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Comment #72 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:37:51 PT
I believe in apologizing...
but there is a problem in being overly apologetic...like you don't believe you can be forgiven...and, although consciously, I know better, I have an apparent built in tendency to venture into that territory. It gets into a self pity thing when it goes that far...and I try to avoid self pity like it's the spiritual and psychological destroyer that it can certainly be. I love you guys...and God knows...I so appreciate you.
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Comment #71 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 10:34:17 PT
Hope
That's it. It is hard to put into words but you did. It means to me forgiving like a small child forgives so very easily. 
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Comment #70 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:30:09 PT
FoM
Thank you.That's one of those sayings that I never particularly cared for. I understand, though, that it's meant to mean that those who love, also willingly understand and forgive, even if they aren't asked to, and I appreciate that.
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Comment #69 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 10:24:30 PT
FoM
I apologize to my wife sometimes, when I forget something, or if I couldn't do something for some reason. I know the apology will be accepted automatically, but I don't think it's wrong to say I'm sorry.
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Comment #68 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:24:00 PT
Thanks Whig...
Once again, I appreciate it.
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Comment #67 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:22:39 PT
It was completely metaphorical...true.
That's the reason it's seems silly of me to try and clarify myself. Just a little glitch in me. *sigh* It would be, metaphorically speaking, just making a tiny personal "mountain" out of a tiny personal "molehill".Dang...I feel stupid. Probably because I am. I'll get a grip on it, though.Thank you for your understanding, though. I appreciate it.
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Comment #66 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 10:20:38 PT
Hope
I think having a clear conscience means being able to not worry. It's very calming. Whenever anyone comes after me and says, I am angry at you, I do not have to be defensive, because I can accept I may have made a mistake.You don't have any reason to feel guilty. You understand you are human as we all are.
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Comment #65 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 10:18:53 PT
Hope
Love means never having to say you are sorry. I can't remember where I heard that and I'm not sure I get it but you don't need to apologize to us. You are being you and that's fine with me.
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Comment #64 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:18:16 PT
Oh Whig...
You're right. I can't do it now, pressing duties calling, but I'll think about it today, and work on it this evening, hopefully, and God willing.
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Comment #63 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 10:15:27 PT
Whig
Probably not. Maybe it will come to me, what I should say, if anything. But right now, it just seems to me that it would be terribly selfish and "small" of me to try and explain my guilty feelings about my "wholehearted" agreement with him, on that thread. When and if it ever feels right to do so, I probably will...but right now, I can't.Right now, all I need is for my friends to accept my "confession" that I feel kind of guilty, regardless of whether I should or not...and that's really enough.It's just a speck, that few, if any, besides myself, see, I know, but I like to keep my conscience clear, and you have helped me to do so. Thank you.
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Comment #62 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 09:56:35 PT
Hope
I'm not trying to make you feel badly, or embarrassed. We all say things sometimes in anger that we might want to take back in reflection. If you think what you said was wrong, and could lead someone to acts of violence, or seem to authorize violence, then that seems contrary to what you really believe. F***ing someone to death isn't very nice. I understand John Cole's anger and don't think I would criticize him for his expression, which I know was metaphorical. Had I said something like that, I would clarify that I don't believe in violence because not everyone might understand otherwise.
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Comment #61 posted by whig on October 30, 2007 at 09:49:53 PT
Hope
Trust me, it isn't selfish to leave a comment.
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Comment #60 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 09:03:12 PT
Robin's death...MBC's death, for us...
has been a terrible blow to our hearts and minds. It hurts. It will always hurt, but I understand what you mean about the sensitivity. It's a raw wound right now.Neil Young's words, or at least the words from his song, Human Highway, sung by that young woman on YouTube come to me every time I think of MBC."How could people be so unkind?"
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Comment #59 posted by Hope on October 30, 2007 at 08:56:32 PT
Marc Emery
He's been on my mind a lot, with November approaching. Our government is a truly scary entity. It can be and often is vicious. It rules by fear and terror. They, those who are the government, think nothing of destroying people and families over plants and seeds and substances. Dynamic entries. SWAT teams. Military style policing. "Creating" and "Cleansing" "perfect" people and "societies". A system of fines and fees that latch on to a person like a pack of ravenous wolves...sometimes dragging them to the ground...or to jail, to completely consume them. Just because I have the temerity to speak out against it, doesn't mean that I don't tremble at what a consuming monster it is.I'm afraid for him and his friends. I hope and pray that the Canadians won't give him up to the "fire of sacrifice" burning in the temple of "The Rule of Law"...that is our government, now.Whig, I did go back to Balloon Juice, and type out a post similar to what I posted here last night, trying to explain myself. I didn't post it. I do know when I'm likely to look stupid, or even be stupid, to most people. But somehow, it seemed selfish.Most of the time, I don't really care that much if people conclude that I'm some sort of twit. If I look stupid, I look stupid. But Balloon Juice is not a place where they know me and if I posted something there, like I posted here, it would seem to be diverting the whole thread to me...instead of what it's really about. That would be selfish. I don't want to do that. Yes, my conscience, by which I'm judged, and no one else, began to bother me about what I said. I unloaded by "burden" of conscience, my personal problem, on you guys... but it would be selfish of me, I think, to lay out what would look so idiotic to most people, over there. The whole point of Cole's comment was that he'd had a couple of drinks and just reared back and thrown much deserved verbal fire at the people who are the cause of the wicked laws we have and that eventually dragged Robin completely down. To become apologetic myself about agreeing with it would be about "me...me...me". I can't do that.I don't feel right to detract from the whole point of the post and thread, to my own measly conscience.If it was a situation where people where really wanting to do harm to other people, I would speak up and gladly retract what I said, but it's not. It's a situation where people are very, very angry, and they want to express it in the best fashion that is all too popular today. It's not really a wrong, or a sin or anything on their part, at all. It's actually probably a wonderful release to a lot of explosive anger that's been building up. If I said all this over there, I might appear to be judging someone else because of my own tender conscience and at the very least, diverting the thread. I don't want to do that. So I'll bare my pricked conscience here, among friends, point it out... you'll understand, and it'll start to heal.It really is a small thing, a tiny thing, infinitesimal in the scheme of things, just heavy on me personally, but because I have people I can share it with, who won't laugh (too hard) at me, it won't fester so much, and it will be ok. (Yes, The Republican would laugh at me. My mother would, too, or worry about my sanity.)Now I can get back to concern about important things...like hoping that the Canadian Government won't be foolish enough to give their people to the USA's bloody prison machine because of some shared seeds from plants.
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Comment #58 posted by FoM on October 30, 2007 at 05:31:54 PT
Hope
You are so sweet. I think because of Robin's death it makes me look at how fragile people are a little closer once again. Aolbites posted a comment about worry and I guess I feel the same way. I know in time I won't feel so sensitive but her death has re-awakened something inside me about how to stay peaceful in the midst of the storm. 
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Comment #57 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:46:39 PT
Aurum metallicum
30C, subatomic gold, check it out.When someone is in the state of imminent self-destruction, I am told this will help.
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Comment #56 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:44:08 PT
Time
We are going through a rough time right now and people are despairing, but it is only a time, and it will pass.
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Comment #55 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:41:01 PT
Marc Emery
I'm sorry if this is off topic but it isn't really.We don't need any more cannabis activists committing suicide, even by proxy.Please, please, take a step back. Talk to someone.
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Comment #54 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:34:27 PT
afterburner
In the last video, Jodie is really upset. I agree with her.
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Comment #53 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:30:50 PT
afterburner
I'm worried about Marc Emery's desire to be a martyr.
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Comment #52 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 23:29:55 PT
Hope
I don't think he'd mind if you went back and posted a clarification of your thoughts. Bloggers love getting thoughtful comments, it's not the one-bite-at-the-apple you get in a lot of media.
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Comment #51 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 23:16:06 PT
FoM
"Red zone". I'll have to keep that in mind. I've used that attention making sound he makes when he works with dogs, often. They really pay attention to it. If I had a dog that was taught to "sic em" at a hissing noise, as in "hissing them on", I'd have to be very careful, there's a fine line between the two sounds...but so far, it's worked beautifully.Concerning anger...and agreeing with anger, I'm feeling some guilt about a post I made to Balloon Juice...agreeing with his verbal assault on the people responsible for the laws and actions that forbade Robin her medicine, "Wholeheartedly". I do agree with his anger. I will admit, that his post struck a chord...and I immediately liked it...vulgar or not. But "to death"? That's a harsh thing to say, for me, anyway, even if I didn't really mean it. It's just words, I know. And many people say "To death" all the time...even about loving things. I don't ever use the word like that though and I really do try to not say things I don't mean.The people he was addressing have caused lots of unnecessary deaths, and even more grief, that's true...but I don't "wholeheartedly" wish them death, or any of those other things, of course. I don't think he did either... it's just a very powerful expression...but I worry about when I think I've said something wrong, and I'm sorry now for posting that about "wholeheartedly" agreeing, but it would be silly, I know, to go back and try to explain myself. I'll go ahead and be silly, if that's what it is, here...where people know me and will forgive me a bit of silliness.It really was "cursing" them, literally, I guess...and for many people it would be nothing...but it feels like something to me, because I, personally, wanted to try to avoid such things. I don't, by any means, judge other people for using such expressions at all. Sometimes, as in this case, obviously, I can actually admire it. But for me, personally, I wanted to avoid it, and now, I've essentially, gone and done, even written it down...forever... what I had determined never to do. The prohibitionists have tempted me sorely to curse them, many times, but I had always managed to refrain. Like the Jonathan Magbie case. Katherine Sullivan, or the Sepulveda boy, or any and all of the others. There are so many. That's the way it always seems to go with me, though. Just when I think I have myself under control and I won't ever, ever do that thing I'm determined not to do.... Wham! I've gone and done it. The upside is, that it does keep me humble in my spiritual endeavors. I certainly know better than to think, "I would never do that", in a harshly judgmental way about anyone. Anyway. I'm sorry about that "wholehearted" agreement. I'm angry, of course. But I don't feel good about cursing people or even agreeing with cursing them.So, I guess I had to "confess and repent" to my friends before I could sleep well tonight.Silly? Perhaps. Stupid? Maybe. But I feel better anyway. Thanks.
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Comment #50 posted by josephlacerenza on October 29, 2007 at 20:50:06 PT
THC Free
Has anyone heard of an individual who has "turned off" the gene associated with THC production. If this is the case, I wonder if it effected the other 60 cannabinoids. I like the direction this person is taking cannabis as a therapy. If one could influence the content of cannabinoids, then what is the DEA to say? This plant has 0-.0001% THC by volume. 
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Comment #49 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 20:10:21 PT
Hope
What I have found is when I reach a certain zone like on the Dog Whisper he calls the red zone I am unreachable. I'm like a mad dog! LOL!Seriously I haven't got that upset for many years. I can only influence the people that I communicate with each day so I try not to look at the big picture for very long. I want to fix what I can.
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Comment #48 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 19:58:10 PT
FoM, Whig
Thanks, both of you.I really am tempted to hate sometimes, so I really have to be careful.It kind of makes the top of my head feel flattened and my forehead and eyes feel like they want to protrude. Wonder what that's about? :0)Add all that to the raised hackles and it's for sure hatred would have a bad effect on me physically as well as spiritually.
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Comment #47 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 15:32:54 PT
Hope
People do wrong things for mistaken reasons. Sometimes it is just misunderstanding that leads to really bad consequences, and if that becomes hatred it just goes on and feeds the cycle.I think we need to correct the wrongs. I know you agree, I just thought I should say something in my words too.
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Comment #46 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 10:46:25 PT
Hope
I am really happy you understood what I said because hate is really unhealthy. Being upset, annoyed, determined, indignant are good because they make us focus on the issue in front of us at that particular time. 
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Comment #45 posted by afterburner on October 29, 2007 at 10:46:02 PT
OT: 'The U.S. vs Marc Emery' Now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/princeofpot
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Comment #44 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 10:35:36 PT
FoM
Maybe I shouldn't call it hatred. That's probably inaccurate. I should call it anger and indignation and determination to end a wrong. Instead of driving a figurative car into a figurative brick wall...I'm, figuratively, I think, on board an indestructible bulldozer, as Love and Grace operate it(technically, one doesn't generally drive a bulldozer. One operates it.)through the wall and pushes the "mountain" of it "into the sea".Love and Grace are ultimately much, much stronger than hatred anyway.So, thank you...I stand corrected. 
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Comment #43 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 10:07:07 PT
Dongenero
"It's reassuring to know there are critical thinking people out there still!"That's what I've been getting, too, from those comments and those over at DU and other places because of this tragedy.Reassurance! How wonderful that is in the midst of all this grief. Reassurance. It's like being engulfed in breathable clean air when the sheer awfulness of people not caring seems to feel like it's smothering me. It's like the hardliners and professional prohibitionists have been trying to cover our faces with a pillow of lies and smother us, as we struggle against them trying to correct the foulness of what they are doing to people ...and lo and behold...other hands reach out to pull that smothering pillow away from our faces.The fresh air! I'm so very grateful.
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Comment #42 posted by whig on October 29, 2007 at 09:57:59 PT
Modesto, California
This video was posted in one of the comments on John Cole's site.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7neQrpc94
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 09:51:21 PT
John Cole
I just bookmarked his web site. I will be checking it out.
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Comment #40 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 09:48:57 PT
Hope
Hate to me is like driving a fast car into a stone wall. 
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Comment #39 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 09:45:56 PT
Peculiarly
after I read John Cole's comment, last night... and appreciated it very much, I carried away with me the idea that it was directed at the DEA. It actually was directed at far more than the DEA... and rightly so. But still, I carried with me the idea that it was directed at the DEA. Probably, when I think of all those people it was directed at, I must tend to bunch them all together under that title...Drug Enforcement Agency. I'm still horrendously angry at Jeff Sweetin's gall in saying "Believe me...". Jeff Sweetin equals DEA, to me.Immediately, when I found myself tempted to despise Sweetin...I aimed that hatred at the DEA organization.Sorry that I didn't unravel all the bound together threads running through my mind before I posted my comment about the DEA. I guess it's because I try not to hate any individual, no matter how demented they are. 
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Comment #38 posted by dongenero on October 29, 2007 at 09:36:33 PT
John Cole blog
Me too, I think the John Cole blog is fantastic! Thanks for that link, john wayne.
He lays down a blistering commentary on the prohibitionist conservatives. Beautiful commentary.The comment threads are also really good. Many like minded, sensible people are reading and commenting. It's reassuring to know there are critical thinking people out there still! I hope that sentiment is resounding and far reaching! It was sure a pleasure to read. It cannot happen soon enough.Robin's (MBC) story has gotten the attention of people, and rightly so. It's sad what our country and government has come to. It's up to us, the people, to make the necessary corrections. 
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 09:21:19 PT
Just a Comment
I guess too much talk about political ideals is hard for me to understand but on that article by John Cole the first comment I read sums up how I have felt now for a number of years. Mister Magoo is the name.
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on October 29, 2007 at 08:40:21 PT
John Cole's Balloon Juice
John Cole's words struck a chord that has been stretched so tight for so long and is resounding so loudly that surely it is ringing throughout the nation and the world. Has there ever been a government agency as roundly and totally despised as the DEA? Even the IRS is cherished by the American people when compared to how we feel about the DEA. Never in my life have I seen a more accurate, eloquent, powerful, and worthy use of vulgarity.We don't ever have to use the words again. They've finally been used for what they were born to be used for.
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 08:21:15 PT
ekim
Thank you. I have always had a terrible time with names and numbers but I never forget a face.
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Comment #34 posted by ekim on October 29, 2007 at 08:11:20 PT
FoM you may be thinking Jack Cole
http://mapinc.org/newsleap/v07/n1205/a03.html
http://www.leap.cc/
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on October 29, 2007 at 06:52:04 PT
 john wayne 
That was an interesting thread and that name rings a bell. Is he an x cop? 
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Comment #32 posted by john wayne on October 29, 2007 at 03:16:24 PT
John Cole posts on Prosser
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8935--QUOTEI have had a couple drinks, so let’s be blunt (pardon the pun)- and this goes out to anyone, of any political persuasion, anywhere, who had a problem with this woman using marijuana to alleviate her pain (especially the alleged “conservative” federalists who can’t handle the thought of states making their own drug laws):Go fuck yourself. To death.--END QUOTE
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on October 28, 2007 at 16:13:08 PT
Yeah. Right.
“Believe me, if marijuana were safe, it would be legal. We’re kind of protecting people from their own state laws.”Sweetin's trying to give us the same old "Mushroom treatment", isn't he? You know...."Keeping us in the dark and feeding us ____ ____."
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Comment #30 posted by aolbites on October 28, 2007 at 14:17:03 PT
2 years of this law not working is all I can take.
Marijuana: Medicine or Drug?Tristan Scott
April 10, 2007
Missoulian"I don't know how many times I have to fight for this before I can get some peace and not violate any laws," says Robin Prosser of Missoula, who relies on medicinal marijuana to relieve symptoms of her numerous health issues.Because Robin Prosser uses prescribed marijuana to ease her chronic pain and illness, she calls it medicine.Because Jeff Sweetin is a federal agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency, he calls it a dangerous drug.And because federal law supersedes state law, making it illegal to grow, sell, purchase or use marijuana, even for health-related reasons, Prosser is out of luck."From the DEA's standpoint, it's not medical marijuana, it's just plain marijuana," said Sweetin, special agent in charge of the DEA's Rocky Mountain Field Division.That's how federal agents saw it earlier this month, when they nabbed Prosser's shipment of marijuana from a UPS delivery truck — it was marijuana, plain and simple. And illegal.But for Prosser, who suffers from a lupus-related immunosuppressive disorder, an illness that for the past 22 years has caused her heart trouble, muscle spasms, nausea, bone fractures and migraines — maladies that daily marijuana use helps mitigate — it's the difference between full-time agony and the ability to function."I'm a sick person," said Prosser, 50. "But I'm also intelligent. I've raised a child in this community who's about to graduate from the university, I've been a productive citizen, I was in the PTA, and yet I'm considered a criminal."Prosser thought she'd witnessed the ushering in of a new era in November 2004, when voters approved the Montana Medical Marijuana Act. The law allows patients to use marijuana if they suffer from diseases like cancer, glaucoma and HIV, or from chronic pain.Prosser, who qualifies as a patient, can grow her own marijuana or designate a caregiver to grow or obtain marijuana for her. According to the act, either Prosser or her caregiver can possess six plants or up to 1 ounce of dried marijuana at a time.The new law was like a godsend for Prosser, who's tried nearly every pill doctors could prescribe, including morphine, anti-nausea pills and other painkillers, even though she's allergic to them all. Marijuana, Prosser says, is the only thing that makes her pain manageable."I don't see how they can deny me a thing that saves my life," she said. "I can't eat without it."On March 30, Prosser learned that a package containing 20 grams of marijuana had been confiscated by federal agents. The package was clearly addressed to Prosser and even gave the return address of her designated caregiver, who is registered through Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services."They confiscated 20 grams of marijuana," Prosser said. "Less than an ounce, and yet it's the difference between agony and the ability to live my life."According to Roy Kemp, who maintains the registry as the state's licensing bureau chief, 319 patients in 36 counties are currently recognized under the Montana Medical Marijuana Act. Kemp says 118 Montana physicians and 116 caregivers have signed up to assist qualifying patients like Prosser.Kemp's office at the Department of Health and Human Services also ensures that doctors are licensed by the state, and that appointed caregivers haven't been convicted of a felony drug offense.In short, Kemp makes sure everything is above board. But at the behest of a law enforcement officer, Kemp has to confirm whether a person is registered with the state as a medical marijuana patient or as a caregiver, which is exactly what happened in Prosser's case.According to special agent Sweetin, even though the federal government tends to focus on a brand of drug trafficking out of sync with Prosser's case, the discrepancy between state and federal law means the agency is obligated to investigate every complaint."The reason we encounter these cases at all is that when we get a call about something suspicious, we're duty bound to go check it out," Sweetin said. "What's the alternative? The alternative would be to say, ‘Hey, don't worry about it.' We get involved in these cases because it's our responsibility to investigate."So when a UPS employee flagged the package as "suspicious," apparently due to its strong odor, the company's security officer called 911 and the complaint was forwarded to Missoula's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force."We did seize that marijuana," Sweetin said. "It came to our attention that there was a package being shipped via UPS that was thought to contain marijuana. We obtained a federal search warrant because we had probable cause to believe it contained marijuana."And although Sweetin said Prosser almost certainly won't face federal charges, the DEA is more inclined to prosecute caregivers, many of whom provide marijuana for more than one patient."Is she in violation of federal law? Absolutely. Will she be prosecuted? No," Sweetin said. "But if you're a caregiver shipping marijuana all over Montana, you stand a relatively good chance of experiencing federal prosecution."That's a harsh reality for Prosser, who says it's become increasingly difficult to find caregivers willing to risk the possibility of federal charges. Her only alternative now is to obtain marijuana from dealers on the street, which costs more and makes it impossible to settle on a consistent strain of the drug."I need a consistent, steady supply of the same strain," Prosser said. "But it's so hard to find a caregiver when the minimum punishment for growing and cultivating is five years under federal law."Prosser said she had been with her current caregiver less than two months prior to the DEA seizure, and isn't sure where she'll turn next."It was the first time I was able to find a consistent supply, so I don't have to fear running out," Prosser said.According to Kemp, a single ounce of marijuana lasts a patient about 10 days."It forces people to be constantly looking at how to get their next ounce," Kemp said.Prosser says she's been living with that anxiety for more than a decade.In 2002, Prosser sustained a 60-day hunger strike and lost 76 pounds to call attention to the need for legally prescribed marijuana. She attempted suicide four times in two years because, she says, the pain became unbearable."I can't believe I'm having to come back and battle for this again," Prosser said. "I'll go on another hunger strike and this time I won't stop."But despite state laws, the issue of legalizing marijuana for medical use remains mired in a federal resolve to keep the drug illegal."Confusion reigns on this issue and it's not going to get any easier as more states go down the same pass, from the legalization of medical marijuana to the legalization of an ounce or less," Sweetin said. "It just creates a lot of confusion."That line of reasoning doesn't sit well with Prosser, who is near tears as she recounts the daily frustrations of her life — the paranoia of taking a puff in the parking lot at Target so she won't get sick while shopping, the conflict in trying to be a good person and a responsible mother while being labeled a criminal by the government."Two years of this law not working is all I can take," she says.
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Comment #29 posted by aolbites on October 28, 2007 at 14:10:45 PT
Federal seizure undercuts state medical law
http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=E2EF1044-2BF4-55D0-F1FF83872BA936F1Marijuana mess - 
Federal seizure undercuts state medical law 
By: [was blank - Angel Raich?]
Posted: 04/12/2007A Missoula medical marijuana patient at the fore of statewide efforts to establish Montana’s medical marijuana law is now confronting federal agents’ attention to the issue. On March 30, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Missoula seized 20 grams of mailed medical marijuana en route to Robin Prosser, confirms Jeff Sweetin, DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division.The seizure marks the first time federal drug officials have tangled with Montana’s medical marijuana patients, who’ve been protected under state law since November 2004. However, the DEA’s involvement appears to mirror a national targeting of medical marijuana patients in other states since June 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled federal officials can ignore state laws permitting the sick and dying to use marijuana with doctors’ recommendations.Prosser, 50, says the intercepted UPS package was one of two she receives monthly from her Flathead caregiver, who’s registered with the state to provide Prosser with medical marijuana. The prescription relieves a painful range of symptoms, Prosser says, resulting from the lupus-like immunosuppressive disorder she’s suffered from for 23 years. She utilized the private mail company for shipments since it’s difficult for her to make the trip and because the medicine stayed within state boundaries where it’s protected by Montana law.Jeff Keener, communications manager for UPS, says local employees were suspicious of the package’s lingering smell and followed standard security procedures by contacting local DEA officials. Sweetin says DEA agents then obtained a federal warrant to seize the package.“Because we’re paid by the taxpayers, which include citizens of Montana, we’re bound legally and ethically to investigate movement of illegal drugs, and marijuana is an illegal drug,” Sweetin says.The legal implication of the seizure is not yet clear. Says Sweetin: “My understanding is that prosecution [of Prosser] has been declined, which is understandable in light of the amount taken,” although a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, “We’re not able to confirm or deny the comments made by the DEA.” And while Sweetin wouldn’t comment on whether the sender of Prosser’s package may face prosecution, he did say, “If it’s our responsibility to open the package, it’s also our responsibility to investigate who sent it.”The whole affair throws Prosser’s medical fate back into uncertainty. Since she’s allergic to most manufactured medicines prescribed to treat her degenerative illness, Prosser says marijuana is critical to her daily well-being. And though she’s rested easier since 2004 when 62 percent of Montana voters approved creation of a state medical marijuana registry—323 patients and 118 caregivers are now registered—Prosser says the program is futile if federal agents can just ignore it.
“I need my medicine, and I need to know that I can conduct my medical care legally,” Prosser says. “As it stands now, I’m in limbo.”Sweetin insists the seizure of Prosser’s medicine doesn’t signify increased federal aggressiveness in Montana. He sees the battle between state and federal laws as having little to do with sick people, and more to do with attempts to legalize an illicit drug.“The story that always makes the news is that these are sick, sick people; they’re dying without their marijuana—and I’m in no position to doubt Ms. Prosser—but the problem with these laws is that the sick people are being used to soften people’s attitudes toward these drugs,” Sweetin says.He continues: “Believe me, if marijuana were safe, it would be legal. We’re kind of protecting people from their own state laws.”Advocates who’ve successfully enacted medical marijuana laws in 12 states around the nation say federal officials are out of touch and turning patients’ medical fates into political footballs. Kris Hermes, legal campaign director for Americans for Safe Access, says there’s been a marked increase in federal raids and prosecutions of medical marijuana cases since the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision involving severely disabled patient Angel Raich. Most of them have occurred in California, where Raich’s Supreme Court case began, but Hermes says a recent Seattle, Wash., raid and the Montana seizure may demonstrate the DEA’s widening scope of interest.“All of these examples are indicative of the federal government being backed up against the wall with fewer and fewer excuses to justify to the public that marijuana must be snubbed out as part of the War on Drugs, when in fact [surveys show] 80 percent of the populace in the U.S. favors the right to be able to access medical marijuana,” Hermes says. “The DEA is simply out of step with the people.”One way around this debate is a national budget amendment preventing the U.S. Department of Justice from spending money to investigate those cases covered under state medical marijuana laws. The so-far unsuccessful legislation has been introduced the last four years by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and won support in 2005 from Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg. Hinchey’s spokeswoman says he intends to forward it again this year.Nonetheless, Montana’s federal delegation is silent in regard to the DEA’s seizure of Prosser’s medical marijuana; Rehberg, Sen. Jon Tester and Sen. Max Baucus offered no comment in response to Indy requests. Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath also had no comment.Prosser’s case is drawing attention, though, from others around the state. Patients & Families United, a statewide support group for medical marijuana patients, is bringing Raich to Missoula to speak at two rallies on April 20. That day will mark the fifth anniversary of when Prosser underwent a 60-day hunger strike in Missoula to draw attention to her inability to use marijuana for medicine. Today, despite ostensibly successful efforts to establish medical marijuana in Montana (for which Prosser was literally a campaign poster-child), Prosser sounds as frustrated as she has in years’ past: “I’m so frustrated with the ignorance about this issue,” she says. “I seem to always be a test case.”Angel Raich will appear with other speakers for a medical marijuana rally Friday, April 20, at noon at UM’s Oval, and again at 4:30 p.m. at the Missoula County Courthouse.
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Comment #28 posted by aolbites on October 28, 2007 at 13:58:21 PT
He has blood on his hands.
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/denversacbio.htmlOn January 12, 2003, Special Agent Jeffrey D. Sweetin was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States of America as the Special Agent in Charge of the Denver Field Division for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The Denver Field Division encompasses eleven offices in four states including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana. Mr. Sweetin is responsible for the agency's daily enforcement operations, drug diversion investigations, and administers DEA policy through three (3) Assistant Special Agents in Charge and a Diversion Program Manager.
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Comment #20 posted by whig on October 28, 2007 at 10:06:15 PT

James Joyner
You have no compassion or understanding of how hard it is for someone like Robin Prosser to treat her pain. She may indeed have had a small quantity of marijuana that she used, but could not replenish, so she took tiny bits of it at a time, just a crumb once every week can help -- I know -- that's what I had to do in Pittsburgh.It wasn't, and isn't, enough. Imagine if you were forced to treat your pain with one tenth or less of the medicine that you needed.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 28, 2007 at 08:49:56 PT

Drug War Gone Wild
By Michael van der Galiën October 28, 2007Robin Prosser, who “struggled for a quarter century to live with the pain of an immunosuppressive disorder, tried years ago to kill herself. Last week, she tried again. This time, she succeeded,” the Missoulian reports.In 2004, Prosser had reason to celebrate: Montanans accepted a law legalizing medical use of marijuana. This was a great day for her: every day she had to live in tremendous pain. She couldn’t use normal painkillers due to an allergic reaction. Then came the US Supreme Court decision ruling that “drug agents could still arrest sick people using marijuana, even in states that legalized its use.”Late March of this year, DEA agents “seized less than a half ounce of marijuana sent to her by her registered caregiver in Flathead County.”A couple of months later, Prosser wrote in the Billings Gazette: “I feel immensely let down.I have no safety, no protection, no help just to survive in a little less pain. I can’t even get a job due to my medical marijuana use - can’t pass a drug test.”She also wrote: “I’m 50 years old, low-income and sick. I spend most days in my apartment in bed, with no air conditioning, unable to go outside because I can’t tolerate the sun.” Concluding: “Give me liberty or give me death. Maybe the next campaign ought to be for assisted-suicide laws in our state. If they will not allow me to live in peace, and a little less pain, would they help me to die, humanely?”Since society refused to give her liberty, she chose death - the closest she felt she could come to liberty.Those who have relatives or family members or friends who live with constant pain understand what Prosser must have felt. My uncle suffered from MS - he died from it a couple of years ago. At a certain moment, he was in so much pain, that he asked for marijuana. Luckily, using marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, and if you use it for medical reasons, the insurance company pays for it, just as it does for ‘regular’ painkillers. His ‘joint’ or ’sticky’ was a source of relief for him. It made his day, his life, doable.Constant pain is one of the most horrific things that can happen to a human being. It takes every pleasure away. Life’s, quite simply, a constant struggle if one’s constantly in pain. Those people don’t need much to go on living; only to be painfree for a couple of minutes a day, or at least to bring the pain back to the a degree they can handle. That these individuals aren’t allowed to use marijuana is, in my opinion, a crime against humanity. These people are tortured, not because nothing can be done, but because individuals who consider themselves to be God think that they can decide for other people that they should just learn to live with the pain.Andrew Sullivan has a good post up about this, so does Balloon Juice.http://mvdg.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/drug-war-gone-wild/
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Comment #15 posted by RevRayGreen on October 28, 2007 at 07:39:02 PT

Everyone
who has spoken in public or in print and have become outspoken advocates in our respected states shares a kinship and sorrow for Robin.I know what medicine works best for me, sometimes my disgust with progress makes me want to go underground,move to a 'legal' state, yet I remain here, hoping the next President actually does something for us.
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Comment #13 posted by John Tyler on October 28, 2007 at 06:58:19 PT

RIP
This poor woman may have technically killed herself, but from what I have read it looks like she was pursued, and harassed by the DEA and other law enforcement types until she had no alternative but death as an escape from her pain and suffering. She was a high-profile campaigner for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, but she was weak physically and had few financial resources. In other words, she was an easy target and couldn’t fight back very well. Rest in peace struggling, suffering sister, your burden is lifted. The Karma of your passing will fall upon those that instigated it.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 28, 2007 at 06:14:44 PT

Related Article from Outside The Beltway
Medical Marijuana Advocate Kills Herself***By James Joyner Sunday, October 28, 2007 A 50-year-old woman committed suicide after 25 years of living with the pain of an autoimmune disease.Robin Prosser, a Missoula woman who struggled for a quarter century to live with the pain of an immunosuppressive disorder, tried years ago to kill herself. Last week, she tried again. This time, she succeeded.After her earlier attempt failed, Prosser wound up in even more trouble after investigating police found marijuana in her home. She used the marijuana to help cope with pain. That marijuana charge was eventually dropped in an agreement with the city of Missoula, and Prosser had reason to rejoice in 2004 when Montanans passed a law allowing medical use of the drug. She was a high-profile campaigner for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, and like others, she was dismayed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that drug agents could still arrest sick people using marijuana, even in states that legalized its use.The ruling came to haunt Prosser in late March, when DEA agents seized less than a half ounce of marijuana sent to her by her registered caregiver in Flathead County. At the time, the DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division said federal agents were “protecting people from their own state laws” by seizing such shipments.“I feel immensely let down,” Prosser would write a few months later, in a guest opinion for the Billings Gazette published July 28. “I have no safety, no protection, no help just to survive in a little less pain. I can’t even get a job due to my medical marijuana use - can’t pass a drug test.”Federal prosecutors declined to charge Prosser, but fear spread through the system of marijuana distribution set up in the wake of the medical marijuana act. Friends said Prosser turned to other sources for marijuana, but found problems nearly everywhere she turned. “Most recently, she had found some people who said they could get her what she needed, but it didn’t go well,” said her friend Jane Byard.Without the relief that marijuana delivered to her, Robin Prosser killed herself at home last week. She was 50.Prosser suffered from an autoimmune disease that gave her allergic and dangerous reactions to most pharmaceutical painkillers. So she turned to marijuana. When that was no longer available she had no where else to turn. “She just said she couldn’t take it all anymore,” Byard said.In her guest opinion, Prosser wrote that: “I’m 50 years old, low-income and sick. I spend most days in my apartment in bed, with no air conditioning, unable to go outside because I can’t tolerate the sun.” Beset by financial problems, troubled by depression, unable to find a reliable source of pain relief, she took her own life three months after the piece was published.“Give me liberty or give me death,” she wrote in July. “Maybe the next campaign ought to be for assisted-suicide laws in our state. If they will not allow me to live in peace, and a little less pain, would they help me to die, humanely?”Before being disabled by her disease, Prosser was a concert pianist and a systems analyst. After the disease hit her, she became a tireless advocate for legalized use of marijuana in medical situations. Let’s be clear here: Despite the sensationalism of this slanted story (”Without the relief that marijuana delivered to her, Robin Prosser killed herself”) Prosser did not kill herself because the government wouldn’t let her have marijuana; she did so because her disease robbed her of her livelihood and had her in indescribable pain for the last quarter century. We know this because she was using marijuana to relieve the pain at the time of her first suicide attempt (the police found it in her home, remember) and she was still using the drug at late as July (she couldn’t pass a drug test, despite THC being undetectable in urine a month or less after use). So, please, spare me the hysterics.That said, it’s absolutely unconscionable that it’s against the law for people like Prosser to seek what relief they can from marijuana. It’s true, as Tbogg notes, that people can quietly get enough marijuana for personal use without much difficulty, whether for medicinal use or otherwise. Indeed, Prosser was rather clearly doing just that. But why should people have to flout the law in order to treat their pain? Incidentally, as Susie Madrak explains, it’s not just illegal drugs:What is this insanity? I mean, what purpose is served by this? And it’s not just pot. When I was a medical fraud investigator, insurance companies were forever sending us to investigate pain specialists and make sure they weren’t “overtreating.”After an hour sitting in one of these waiting rooms, listening to people’s stories about all the hoops they and their doctor had to jump through in order to get pain treatment, I had to ask yourself: What is the gain here?The policy makes the likes of Rush Limbaugh become a criminal. A man with permanent and excruciating back pain gets “addicted” to Oxycontin, a perfectly legal drug he’s prescribed by his doctor, and is faced with the choice of breaking the law or enduring the pain. Some choice.Although I disagree with them in some particulars, Andrew Sullivan and John Cole [strong language alert] are right to note the absurdity of small government, state’s rights conservatives fighting so hard to overturn state medical marijuana laws. Whatever one’s views on the merits of our war on drugs, generally, one would think this particular battle would be one not worth fighting. While I don’t buy it, I at least understand the “gateway drug” argument against allowing teenagers to smoke pot, let alone adults to sell it to them. Even though I think, for a variety of reasons, that we should fight against drug abuse via education and treatment rather than criminalization, I support the goal of a sober, functional citizenry. But, aside from the probability that some number of people will find a way to abuse medical marijuana laws to get the drug for recreational use, it’s hard to make a case for denying 50-year-old chemotherapy patients a means of alleviating pain. Copyright: 2007 by OTB Mediahttp://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/10/medical_marijuana_advocate_kills_herself/
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Comment #11 posted by unkat27 on October 28, 2007 at 04:24:30 PT

DEA fascists are REAL CRIMINALS
-- "DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division said..."Of course, we can never know exactly who that DEA agent is, because these fascists are ABOVE THE LAW. How damn much more fascist can a government get without being labeled a totalitarian dictatorship?Of course, the real reason why we can never know who these pigs are is because they are criminals that would be targeted and killed by lynch mobs if their true identities were known.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 27, 2007 at 20:01:42 PT

Andrew Sullivan: Another Drug War Victim

October 27, 2007A woman kills herself to stop the pain of an illness she tried to alleviate with marijuana:She was a high-profile campaigner for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, and like others, she was dismayed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that drug agents could still arrest sick people using marijuana, even in states that legalized its use.The ruling came to haunt Prosser in late March, when DEA agents seized less than a half ounce of marijuana sent to her by her registered caregiver in Flathead County.At the time, the DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division said federal agents were “protecting people from their own state laws” by seizing such shipments.That DEA statement should go down in history as an emblem of the anti-federalist agenda of today's conservatives. It's up there with protecting people from the alleviation of their own pain. Prosser couldn't get the medicine she needed, except from unreliable and sometimes dangerous sources. Unable to cope with the pain of her illness, she took her own life.“Give me liberty or give me death,” she wrote in July. 
That's the American spirit. The government deprived her of liberty and so she chose death. May she and every other victim of the drug war rest in peace.(Update: here's Obama on the question. He'd pull the feds off persecuting the sick in states where medical marijuana is legal.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUze-oYsswICopyright: 2007 Andrew Sullivanhttp://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/10/another-drug-wa.html
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Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on October 27, 2007 at 19:39:10 PT

May she find peace
I did email her when she was on her fast. Richard McNair nabbed in New Brunswick:http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=38335Richard McNair is a former narcotics agent. More to the point: A Depraved Evil Asshole. A cold-blooded murderer.
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Comment #8 posted by whig on October 27, 2007 at 18:17:49 PT

mayan
I laughed when I read about Rumsfeld having to be whisked out of France to avoid being arrested for war crimes. I wonder if it can be confirmed.
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Comment #7 posted by sam adams on October 27, 2007 at 16:07:16 PT

attacking the vulnerable
the WOD feeds off the most vulnerable in society. Who suffer the worst from it? Poor minorities (neighborhoods turned into war zones), and the sick and dying, who are denied the medicine they need.  Of the course the sick and dying are at the top of the list of people who can be screwed without putting up much of a fight. Many can barely get out of the house, and most are already battling insurance companies. 
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Comment #6 posted by mayan on October 27, 2007 at 15:36:26 PT

Tragic
Her pain is gone now, though. I'll never understand how some people can force others to live in such pain and misery. Never.On a somewhat pleasant note... Rumsfeld flees France fearing arrest:
http://wor.ldne.ws/node/8596It's time to put all of the neo-cons behind bars or at least on the run. Their murdering,torturing ways are not welcome here.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on October 27, 2007 at 09:45:07 PT

Certainly, those have to be the words of
an insane authoritarian. “protecting people from their own state laws” by seizing such shipments."Who does he think he is? He sounds like an agent of the old King George that our forefathers rebelled against. Talk about reruns! Another King George? Another of his despised agents? How can they be so blind to what they are saying and doing? Are we children? Are we his children? No! Is he more a man than any man here? Is he more a human than any woman here? He is so deluded that he is not sane. He's the brainless muscle of sick wannabe dictators.It's hard to believe that he has the gall and nerve to utter such foul words in the presence of citizens of the United States. He betrays himself to be the traitor of everything that is America.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on October 27, 2007 at 09:13:00 PT

Comment 1
She was a "Wonderful lady", wasn't she? I'm glad she joined our crew.I've gone from shock and sadness and sorrow, to frustration at myself for not being able to help her, to anger at her for doing it, to anger at the prohibitionists, now I'm settling, I think, here at "She was a wonderful lady"...and I'm glad to have known her here as our MBC.
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Comment #3 posted by Graehstone on October 27, 2007 at 08:23:48 PT

RIP Robin Prosser
I got this the day after it happened ...I'm very sad to say that we've just heard that Montana medical marijuana patient Robin Prosser took her own life yesterday.
In addition to national coverage of her medical marijuana hunger strike a few years ago, she was most recently in the news this spring after DEA seized her state-legal medical marijuana while it was in transit in Montana via UPS. Article: http://tinyurl.com/3b8zkl
We helped her make a short video about the DEA seizure. It's here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al0vIZ_CEUQRobin was a friend, and I wish I had done more to help her.
--
John Masterson
Montana NORML, etc.... and another one of us lessens the whole due to the actions of the misinformed many.
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Comment #2 posted by Yanxor on October 27, 2007 at 08:19:54 PT

Oh great day
"The DEA special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Field Division said federal agents were “protecting people from their own state laws” by seizing such shipments."Oh how wonderful it is that the federal government uses our taxes to protect ourselves from the way we try to govern ourselves at a smaller level.The protection that they gave Ms. Prosser, was invaluable - they did all the research and the studies and so caringly made sure that she was constantly in pain, yet free of the devil herb, marijuana(which would certainly have sent her to hell, thank god that was avoided).
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on October 27, 2007 at 08:15:22 PT

dea--“protecting people from their own state laws"
Before being disabled by her disease, Prosser was a concert pianist and a systems analyst. After the disease hit her, she became a tireless advocate for legalized use of marijuana in medical situationsthank you wonderful lady
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